Whenever your weekend lands (I’ve worked weekends for way too many years!), I hope you can enjoy your time off and start your day with a delicious brunch! I’ve always wanted to have a group of friends to get together and go for brunch regularly. You know, like they did on Sex in the City? But that hasn’t been able to happen. But going for brunch is a favourite thing to do. It symbolises the start of a relaxing, chill day to me.

However, going out for brunch all the time isn’t really possible, so coming up with delicious plates to make for home brunch was the challenge! My absolute favourite brunch dish has always been Eggs Florentine, but well, since I no longer eat eggs, I had to come up with a way to do it. And here we go!

Tofu Benedict with Hollandaise Sauce

I waited a long, long time to decide to try to make hollandaise sauce. Before I went vegan, I knew if I made it, I’d be putting it on EVERYTHING and well, that just isn’t healthy. Once I went vegan, I decided to try to make my own tofu benny, and after a few attempts, I found the right combo to make it taste pretty darn close to the original! This dish is delightfully delicious

Ingredients:

For the tofu:

• 1 pkg of extra firm tofu, drained & pressed – or there’s an alternate to regular tofu that I love to use here – smoked sriracha tofu mmmmmmmm
• 1/2 tsp Kala Namak (black salt)
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 3 Tbsp nutritional yeast
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 2 Tbsp soy sauce/tamari
• 2 Tbsp apple cider vingear

For the Hollandaise:

• 1/2 C raw cashews (unsalted), soaked in water at least 2 hours (or in boiling water for 20 minutes)
• 2 Tbsp nutritional yeast
• 1.5 Tbsp lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 2 tsp Dijon mustard
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 1/4 C water

Other Ingredients:

• vegan bread product (English muffins, sourdough rye bread, tea biscuits)
• 1 large tomato, sliced (1 slice per benny)
• 4 C greens (spinach, kale)
• faux meat (optional). I use tempeh or faux bacon (store bought Lightlife or make rice paper bacon)
• fresh herbs, sprouts or microgreens to garnish (optional)

Directions:

For tofu:

1. You can choose how to cook your tofu (oven, pan-fry, air-fry), but the most important part is to marinade it! Pre-heat your oven/air-fryer to 400F and cover a baking sheet with parchment paper
2. Slice the tofu in half, lengthwise and then again across so you have 4 pieces. Place them in a shallow bowl.
3. Mix the ingredients together in another bowl and pour over tofu (make sure it’s covered). Let marinade for 15 minutes.
4. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes, then flip and bake for another 10. If you are air-frying, you can flip them after 5 minutes as it’s much faster.

For the Hollandaise:

1. Mix all the ingredients together in a blender until it’s smooth. You may need to add more water (a tbsp at a time) and be sure to scrape down the sides.
2. Heat in a sauce pan, whisking it. If it thickens, you can add a tiny splash more water and whisk it up. Do this right before you build your benny!

To build the Benny:

1. Toast your bread (or warm your biscuits 
2. Stack your ingredients however you please! Before adding greens, I usually do a quick pan fry of them to wilt them so they are less crunchy. I try to use 1/2 c of greens per benny.
3. Add tempeh/fake bacon if you choose and a slice of tomato.
4. Pour warmed sauce on top. Make sure you cover it enough so it slowly drips down – that will make sure you are very hungry!
5. I sometimes top with microgreens or sprouts and maybe a drizzle of hot sauce!