Breakfast Bird Nests

♫ Listening to: To The World by Strike Anywhere ♫

Makes 12 nests with 3 sausage eggs in each one

Hashbrown Nest Ingredients

• 3-4 al dente baked potatoes
• coconut oil spray (or sub melted coconut oil)
• salt and pepper

Hashbrown Nest Directions

Preheat the oven to 425°.

Peel and grate the partially baked potatoes.

Mix the potatoes with salt and pepper.

Cut 12 squares of parchment paper in as equal sizes as you can.

Press each square into the cubbies of a cupcake pan.

Oil each square of parchment paper lightly with coconut spray or oil.

Press ¼ cup of potatoes into each cubby, forcing them to stick up over the edges.

Spray the tops of the potatoes with coconut oil, and re-salt and pepper. If you don’t have an oil sprayer on hand, you can use a silicone basting brush to apply coconut, sunflower, or safflower oil to the nests.

Bake the nests at 425° for 20-25 minutes, removing from the oven when they start to turn golden brown, but not burnt.

Sausage Bird Eggs Ingredients

• ½ an onion, finely diced or processed
• 2-4 tablespoons olive oil
• 5 cloves garlic (or sub 1 teaspoon garlic powder)
• 1 stalk celery (or an additional carrot)
• 1 small carrot (or an additional stalk of celery)
• ¾ cup cooked, canned, or refried pinto beans
• ½ cup of water
• 3 tablespoons tamari (or sub soy sauce)
• 1 tablespoon organic tomato paste*
• 2 teaspoons paprika
• 2 teaspoons sage
• ½ teaspoon pepper
• ⅛ teaspoon hickory smoked salt (or a few drops of liquid smoke)
• 1 cup vital wheat gluten
• ⅓ cup rolled or quick oats
• 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
• 1 tablespoon ground flax seeds

Sausage Bird Eggs Directions

making the sausage: 45-50 minutes; cooking the sausage: 1 hour

Sauté the onion in oil until soft.

Process the celery, garlic, and carrot in food processor. Add to softened onion.

Add the sautéed veggies back to the food processor along with the beans, water, soy sauce, tomato paste, and spices.

Process until smooth.

Combine gluten, oatmeal, flax, and nutritional yeast in a large mixing bowl.

Add the processed ingredients to the dry ingredients and knead for a few minutes or until you have dough. You want it to have some elasticity when it’s done being kneaded.

Boil a few inches of water topped with a steamer basket.

Line the steamer basket with cheesecloth.

Roll and shape 1 teaspoon of dough between the palms of your hands until you have an egg shaped piece.

Place it on the cheesecloth and repeat with the rest of the dough.

Steam covered for 45 minutes. They should expand.

Fry in a pan with some olive oil until sausage eggs are lightly browned.

Serve inside of the bird’s nests.

Chill leftovers and reheat in a pan or in the oven.

FAQ

Can I make the homemade vegetarian sausage 4 days prior to cooking it?

You sure can! You can make the vegan sausage up to 5 days in advance of when you want to cook them.

Do I have to make the sausage into these little egg shapes?

You can just make the vegan sausage into links if you’re not into the bird nest theme I’ve got going on here. Just roll them into links instead of egg shapes before steaming them.

If you like this recipe, you might also like my hot dog on a stick recipe and my corn dog nuggets.

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* I use mostly organic ingredients when I cook, but I realize that not everyone has the disposable income to purchase all organic ingredients. Therefore, I only specify organic on the ingredients that really matter - when buying the organic version is the only way to ensure that the item is vegan.