Baked egg, avocado and brown rice patty stack

I love eggs benedict. If I do go out for breakfast, this is usually what I will order. Zen Cafe and Sunset Grill in Vancouver both serve up delicious Bennys with tomato and avocado. I have made many Benny inspired breakfasts over the past couple of years but I am usually too lazy to make the hollandaise sauce.

This morning I was definitely craving eggs benedict but I had one little problem - no bread in the house. I have not purchased bread in several months, I have just been making it at home and also eating a lot of pita and naan bread. Also, I just made a sour dough bread starter on Thursday and am waiting for that to get smelly so I can make sourdough bread for the first time (for a future post).

I was brainstorming in bed this morning (dangerously close to noon) what to serve alongside baked eggs, avocado and tomato. Running the contents of the fridge and cupboard through my head I settled on some sort of patty. Ideally I would have made a hash brown type patty but I do not have potatoes either. I thought, zucchini? Too watery. Then a recipe from Heidi Swanson via Seven Spoons came to mind, quinoa patties. No quinoa.

The only replacement I could conjure up was brown rice. I cooked up some brown rice, preparing it the same way I prepared my quinoa last week only it took about 30 minutes. I sauteed up some garlic, mushroom and onion, threw in some spinach and thyme and ended up with a not bad brown rice patty. I'll admit, I would tweak this recipe to improve it but for a breakfast on a whim, I was pretty happy with it. Below I will tell you what I did, and what I will do next time.

Baked eggs, avocado and brown rice patty stacks

Ingredients

• 2 cups prepared brown basmati rice
• 2 mushrooms thinly sliced
• 1/3 cup finely chopped onion
• 1 garlic clove, crushed 
• Handful chopped spinach 
• 1 tsp fresh thyme leaves
• Dash red pepper chili flakes
• 2 raw eggs 
• 2 - 3 tbsp flour
• Salt
• Pepper 

• Baked or poached eggs (I baked mine at 350 F in greased ramekins)
• Goat cheese
• Parmesan
• Sliced tomato 
• Sliced avocado
• Basil

Directions

1. Saute mushroom, garlic and onion for 5 minutes
2. Mix with other ingredients in a large bowl, adding enough flour to soak up excess moisture (my batter was not very sticky but the patties held together really well once they were in the pan for a minute)
3. Process very briefly (~ 3 seconds) in a food processor to make more batter-like 
4. Heat 2 - 3 tbsp canola oil over medium high heat in a pan
5. Add ~1/3 cup spoonful of brown rice mixture to pan, flattening and shaping as desired 
6. Cook a few minutes on each side, until lightly browned
7. Place on a plate. Spread or crumble a layer of goat cheese, top with avocado, tomato, egg and sprinkle with salt and pepper, Parmesan and basil
8. Eat :)

Variations to try next time

• Add breadcrumbs and parmesan to the batter (instead of flour).
• Make the brown rice or other grain the night before
• Poach the eggs instead of baking, and cook for less time (my eggs were over done)
• Make a roughly pureed cold tomato salsa, instead of just sliced tomatoes to add some moisture to the dish or serve with oven roasted tomatoes which can be baked the night before.