Hearty and Yummy Breakfast Strata

We have been re-inventing, re-defining, re-creating our Christmas traditions this year... We are not forcing anything, not feeling like we *have* to do anything or get anything *done* for some deadline. We are simply living joyfully (as always) and following our hearts and doing what feels right in the moment.

And thus, I have never been more Mindful and Present and At Peace during this blessed season...a season which engages the whole world in a conspiracy of Love! It's been bliss.

One of our past traditions just wasn't feeling right to me ~ our Christmas morning breakfast. And so I was keeping an open space for just the right, new tradition (for this year, anyway) to enter our lives. As always happens, it did. Enter the *free* magazine from my grocery store, Hannaford. They have a recipe for a Country Breakfast Strata, and when I saw the photo of it, I knew immediately that it was just perfection for our Christmas breakfast. It's something that can be made the night before and just put in the oven on Christmas morning. Just perfect.

I did a *test* run of it this weekend, because one of my *new* traditions is also not *saving* everything for THE DAY of Christmas...but to allow it to add Joy to our lives as we flow... And I was DYING to try this new recipe!

Oh My, it is so delicious. It's like a puffed, baked, cheesy french toast stuffing. SO so delicious.

And because I hadn't planned on making it, I hadn't bought the exact ingredients that it called for. But NO PROBLEM!! Substitutions are my specialty!! I substituted quite a few ingredients. I was able to use up the leftover sourdough Italian bread that we had here for Sam's girlfriend's visit...able to use up the leftover spinach...able to use up those mushrooms that I bought too many of for a different recipe...able to use up the rest of the monterey jack cheese and also add a little swiss for zippy flavor, thanks to those last few slices in the fridge that no one was eating...

And so here is the base recipe, but bear in mind that this can be anything you want or need it to be ~ add what you want, what you have (add some meat if you are a family of carnivores)...and yes ~ enJoy.









Breakfast Strata

Serves 8 ~ Prepare night before and soak in fridge overnight.


1 loaf sourdough boule bread
4 tsp olive oil, divided
1 large sweet onion, divided
1 bunch swiss chard or baby spinach, rinsed well
1 Tbsp. finely cohpped fresh rosemary or 1/4 tsp. dried
1 lb. mushrooms, thinly sliced
2 cups grated Swiss cheese
8 eggs
2 cups low-fat milk
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt, or more to taste
1/8 teaspoon hot pepper sauce (such as Tabasco)

If bread is very crusty, remove crust. Otherwise, break up bread into about 1/2 inch cubes. You should have about 7 - 8 cups of cubed bread. Set aside.

Heat 2 tsp. oil over med-low heat in a skillet. Cook onion slices until it turns a pale, golden color...maybe 8 minutes or so.

Add the mushrooms and the cleaned and trimmed chard or spinach to the onion and cook for maybe 8 minutes(try to evaporate the juices). (I also added raw spinach to both layers, because that's what I usually do with quiche and we LOVE how it bakes in the oven without pre-cooking it...you can see it in my photo...that's why it looks so *fresh*...)

Spray a baking pan or casserole dish with cooking spray. Line the bottom with half the bread cubes, creating a solid layer. Top with half of the onion/chard/mushroom mixture. Add fresh, uncooked spinach or chard. Sprinkle with half of the cheese. Repeat with remaining bread, onion/chard/mushrooms and cheese.

In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, milk, nutmeg, pepper, and hot sauce. Pour the mixutre over the bread and cover with plastic wrap or foil. Let sit overnight refrigerated.

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Bake anywhere from 40 minutes to an hour or a bit more (depending on how *cold* the casserole is...how big your dish is...).

The strata should be browned so beautifully, puffed gorgeously and NOT runny at all when checked in the center (don't mistake melted cheese for runny eggs!...and the bread will be *moist* with eggs, but not runny...).

Remove from oven and let sit 5 minutes before serving. Serve warm or room temperature.

(A special thanks to my neighbors' children...er...I mean CHICKENS...for providing us with the strata eggs... :)




And, as always, EnJoy. And Merry Christmas.

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