12 Days of Underconsumption is a special series from one5c laying out everything you need to know to celebrate more sustainably.
12 Days of Underconsumption is a special series from one5c laying out everything you need to know to celebrate more sustainably.
If you ask any food waste expert how to stave off chucking a buncha grub post-holiday, they’ll tell you a couple things. First is to not overbuy to begin with. Second is to have a plan for your extras from the get-go. Seasonal cooking leaves our fridges packed with random bits and bobs—and if we don’t eat, preserve, or compost that food, it’ll wind up burping greenhouse gases at the trash heap.
When it comes to cooking, lots of recipes will use up one or two items—there are plenty of drool-inducing ideas on our Pinterest—but we wondered if there wasn’t one dish to rule them all that was something other than a sandwich. The answer is “Yes! At breakfast.” A breakfast casserole (a strata, if you’re feeling fancy) can give a second life to almost anything, including veggies, proteins, herbs, sauces, and even stale baguette butts or dinner rolls.
What’s great about a breakfast casserole is that it’s more of a formula than a recipe. The version below comes courtesy of our sustainable-eating compatriots over at Cool Beans, but strata can be as minimalist or maximalist as you want once you’ve committed the math to memory: 12 eggs + 4 cups day-old bread + 1½ cups milk + 3 cups leftover veggies and/or protein = brunch. Best of all, this dish is make-ahead friendly. Know what that means? We’re all sleeping in!
Zero-Waste Breakfast Casserole
Yield: 8 to 10 servings
Ingredients:
- Nonstick cooking spray
- 4 cups leftover bread, torn into 1-inch pieces*
- 12 large eggs
- 1½ cups nondairy milk
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons leftover sauce, like pesto or romesco (optional)
- 2 to 3 cups leftover vegetables, cut into bite-sized pieces if needed
- 1 to 2 cups leftover protein, cut into bite-sized pieces if needed (optional)
- ½ cup cheese (optional)
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped herbs (optional)
Procedure:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 4-quart baking dish with nonstick spray, and arrange bread in the bottom of the dish.
- In a large bowl, add the eggs, milk, salt, and pepper. Whisk until combined. If adding leftover sauce, whisk it in with the eggs. Add whatever veggies, protein, cheese, and herbs you’re using and stir.
- Pour egg mixture over the bread, making sure it’s distributed evenly in the pan. If you’re making the strata ahead of time, cover it up and store it in the fridge for up to three days. When ready to bake, preheat the oven and proceed to step 4.
- Bake for 45 to 50 minutes, or until the casserole is set in the middle. Let it cool for 5 to 10 minutes before cutting into lasagna-like squares.
Notes and Substitutions:
- If you don’t have any stale bread, just leave a few slices out on the counter for a few hours or put them in the oven at 200 degrees F to dry out for about 10 minutes.
- The amounts for veggies and protein are forgiving, but shoot for around 3 cups total between the two—leaning more heavily on the veggies, if possible.