All You Need Is A Poached Egg To Turn Roasted Veggies Into Breakfast

Two misconceptions about making a savory, satisfying gourmet breakfast are that it has to include some sort of meat, and that it has to be fancy or complicated. Neither of these things are true, and if you want to make a super easy and elegant breakfast or brunch with no meat, all you need are some roasted vegetables and a poached egg or two.

Roasted vegetables are easy to make, since all you need to do is cut up your favorite veggies, coat them in a little fat, and let the oven do the work. They're great for meal prep because they last a long time in the fridge and still taste great. You can even have some roasted veggies for dinner and save the rest for breakfast. All that's missing is a 3-minute poached egg to turn your leftovers into a vegetarian breakfast hash. If a slice of multigrain toast shows up to the party, all the better, but you really only need eggs and veggies to get your day started off on the right foot.

A sheet pan or two of roasted vegetables cannot be overstated as the VIP of food prep. Roasted veggies can start off as a savory side with chicken or steak at dinner, then they can top a salad for your lunch later in the week, and you can even puree them with some vegetable stock to make a yummy soup. Breakfast is always a tough meal to prep in advance, however, so save some of your roasted veggies for the morning.

You can roast almost any vegetables for a breakfast hash, but root veggies work especially well in the oven. Try mixing carrots, parsnips, turnips, and potatoes, and you can even add some other crunchy veggies like broccoli, asparagus, cauliflower, and corn. Don't forget to add some aromatics for extra flavor, like a sliced red onion or shallot, and a few cloves of garlic. Toss everything in a few tablespoons of cooking oil, your choice of spices, salt, and pepper, and roast.

When it's time to serve breakfast, all you need to turn your roasted vegetables from a side to a centerpiece is a poached egg. The internet is full of recipes for making poached eggs, so find a method that works for you, as there's more than one way to get the job done. The key, however, is to keep the heat on the stove low enough so that the poaching water doesn't boil, which will break your egg apart before it ever gets a chance to cook.

Once you have a poached egg or two ready to go, simply place them on top of your warm roasted vegetables and serve. The runny yolk will make its own creamy sauce to coat the vegetables, but if you want to take things to the next level, you could absolutely serve your veggies and eggs with a spoonful of homemade hollandaise sauce. Again, there are lots of recipes for hollandaise, and even if it's a weekday, you can actually have some ready in just one minute if you have a blender.

With recipes this easy, you can eat breakfast like you're out at a fancy brunch any day of the week. Just keep some roasted vegetables on hand in the fridge and you'll have breakfast ready in a flash, even on weekdays.