Grits are one of my favorite things about living in the South! I've been eating a lot the red corn grits available at Mother Earth Food lately and so when they asked me for recipe ideas, a breakfast bowl was fast on my mind.
This recipe is so hearty, healthy, and delicious that I like to double the recipe and eat variations on it all week with my family. It can easily be made vegan; check out the notes for details on that.
Grits & Roots Breakfast Bowl Recipe
(4-6 servings, 1 hour)
Ingredients
3 Tbsp ghee, divided
3 carrots, diced
2 potatoes, diced
1 red or golden beet, diced
1 yellow onion, diced
10 oz fresh spinach leaves
4-6 eggs (optional)
Grits Ingredients (*See notes)
1 cup stone-ground grits
4 cups water
1 Tbsp ghee (optional)
1 tsp salt
nutritional yeast or cheese (optional)
salt & pepper
Directions
Preheat oven to 425ﾟ.
Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Drop 1 Tbsp of ghee onto the parchment and put into the oven for a minute or so, until the ghee has melted.
Spread ghee around the parchment, then add carrots, potatoes, and beet into smaller sections, in a single layer. *See photo at the bottom of the page. Add 1 more Tbsp of ghee, broken into pieces (if cold) or drizzled (if warm) over the veggies. Bake until soft, about 50-60 minutes. Meanwhile...
Make the grits. You can do this according to package directions. If your grits are stone-ground like mine (I used red corn grits), you'll bring 1 cup of grits + 4 cups of water + 1 tsp of salt + 1 Tbsp ghee (optional) to a boil over high heat, then reduce to simmer and stir occasionally to keep the grits cooking evenly. Simmer for up to an hour. You may need to add more water if they seem to be getting dry.
When you're about 20 minutes from done (the veggies & grits have been cooking for near 45 minutes), make the greens and onions. Add 1 Tbsp of ghee and diced onion to a large sauté pan. Sauté over medium heat until tender, about 8-10 minutes.
Add spinach to the pan with a pinch of salt and sauté until wilted, about 2-3 minutes. Once cooked, move onions and spinach to a covered plate and set aside for now.
Make your eggs (optional). We moved the onions and spinach to a plate in order to take advantage of this hot pan. Add a Tbsp of ghee and move around the already warm pan. Once melted, add 4 eggs to the pan. After about a minute, once the bottom of the eggs have firmed up, add a drizzle of water to the pan, then cover. Cook until the yolks are still soft/runny but the whites are solid, about 3-4 minutes.
Serve! Place grits into the bottom of the bowl. I like to add nutritional yeast for a cheesy flavor, but you could easily skip this. Then top with an appealing arrangement of veggies and the egg. Serve with salt & pepper and adjust to individual taste.
Notes
You could use faster cooking grits, or polenta in this recipe. Simple follow the package directions, rather than step 4.
This is easily vegan! Use a mild oil like coconut or avocado oil instead of ghee. I do not recommend cooking with most vegan butters but you could stir it in for flavor once your grits are ready-to-eat. You can also crumble firm tofu in with the spinach in step 6, then skip step 7. To do this, add a sprinkle of turmeric, salt, maybe even powdered garlic or onion to flavor the tofu. It should be heated through by the time the spinach wilts.
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