Winning Brunch Casserole – Restyled for Health and Savings

I love brunch foods. I love egg casseroles or pies. And (right now at least) I love a warm savory, cheesy dish and a nap afterwards.
This recipes hits all the right notes for me tasty, even rich without being so heavy as to prevent me from taking the all-important
afternoon pregnancy siesta! Hope you enjoy this restyle and wish you pleasant napping afterward….

Cheesy Hash Brown Pie
20 minutes Prep Time
Serves 8

Ingredients
• 2 cups Simply Potatoes® Shredded Hash Browns
• 1/2 pound ground Italian sausage
• 1 small zucchini, cut in half crosswise, thinly sliced lengthwise
• 1/4 cup chopped red bell pepper
• 1 cup (8 oz.) AllWhites® egg whites
• 1 cup milk
• 1 tsp. Dijon mustard
• 1 cup Crystal Farms® Shredded Cheddar Cheese

Instructions
1. Heat oven to 375° F. Butter bottom and sides of 9-inch glass pie plate. Firmly press Simply Potatoes® on bottom and sides of pie plate.
2. Bake 10 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, cook Italian sausage in 10-inch skillet until browned. Drain fat. Combine cooked sausage, zucchini, red pepper, All Whites, milk and mustard in large bowl; mix well.
4. Pour AllWhites; mixture into crust.
5. Return to oven and bake 30 to 35 minutes or until center is set. Sprinkle with cheese. Bake 3 to 5 minutes more (until cheese is melted).

Nutritional Info: Nutritional Info: 188 Calories 13g Protein

Source: http://www.allwhiteseggwhites.com/recipes/cheesy-hash-brown-pie/

KG’s Hash Brown Brunch Casserole
1 hour prep/cook time
Yield: About 8 large or 12 smaller servings

This recipe revision uses healthier ingredients, several of which are cheaper than those ingredients used in version above. What you lose in prep time, you will more than make up in delicious

Ingredients
• 20 oz. unpeeled red potatoes, diced or shredded
• 1/2 package Gimme Lean vegan sausage (about 7 oz.)
• 1 large zucchini, cut in half crosswise, thinly sliced lengthwise
• 1/4 cup chopped sweet onion (e.g. Vidalia)
• 1 + 1/3 cups egg whites, about 10 extra large or 12 large egg whites
• 1 cup almond milk
• 1 tsp. Dijon mustard
• 1 tsp. salt, divided
• ¼ tsp. each black pepper and garlic powder
• 1 + 1/3 cups shredded vegan cheese (I used Daiya brand vegan cheese – 2/3 cup cheddar + 2/3 cup mozzarella
• Dash pepper sauce + sprinkle of paprika if desired

Instructions
1. Using a kitchen scale, weigh out 20 ounces of red potatoes. We used about five medium-sized red potatoes.

Weigh out the potatoes

Weigh out the potatoes

2. Wash and chop potatoes. If you have a spiralizer or food processer with shredding attachment, that makes this step a LOT easier. Chop onion.
Spiralized Potatoes
3. While prepping potatoes and onion, preheat your oven to 400° F. Butter bottom and sides of cast iron skillet and place the skillet in hot oven for about 5 minutes to heat. Firmly press Simply Potatoes® on bottom and sides of pie plate.
4. Remove skillet from oven. Place potatoes into pan, press down slightly and sprinkle with 1/2 tsp. salt and pepper.
5. Bake potatoes in oven for about 30 minutes. While potatoes cook, chop zucchini and set aside.
6. In a large bowl, combine sausage, dijon mustard and milk in a large mixing bowl. Using a potato masher, break up the sausage into small pieces.
7. Add egg whites to milk/sausage mixture. Stir in salt, hot sauce, mix well.
8. Remove potatoes mixture from oven. Top with vegetables, and pour egg whites mixture over all. Shake pan gently to ensure even distribution.
Egg whites on potato crust
9. Return to oven and bake 30 to 35 minutes or until center is set.
10. Sprinkle with cheese. Bake 1 to 2 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Yummy!

Yummy!

KG’s Notes:
We used a 12” cast iron skillet for this recipe.
Also, I microwaved the chopped onion before adding to pan just because I thoroughly cooked onions.
Healthier ingredients in the revised version include: Gimme Lean versus pork sausage; Almond milk versus cow’s milk (for more on why this is a healthier option, click here: ); vegan cheese instead of dairy cheese; we also used extra egg whites which are a lean source of pure protein.
Cost savings ingredients/processes: Switching from pre-prepped hash brown potatoes to whole potatoes which require more prep work but are FAR cheaper per ounce. Separating whites from whole eggs versus cartoned egg whites. Vegan sausage is usually cheaper and as readily available as pork sausage. Save even more by switching from Gimme Lean to lightly smashed cooked beans or lentils.

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