French Toast Zoats with Tofu Scramble and Sausage

So I have a pretty amazing recipe for you today…

This porridge is a hodge-podge of everything good about American brunch. (That is, except for mimosas. I wasn’t able to work in a mimosa.)

What you’ll need:

• • 1/2 cup tofu scramble of choice*
  • 2 breakfast sausage patties or links
  • Prepared French Toast Zucchini Oatmeal
  • Maple syrup, for drizzling

• 1 cup milk of choice, or water
• 1/3 cup quick-cook steel cut oats
• 1 small zucchini or yellow squash, grated (peeling optional)
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• rounded 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• pinch of salt
• 2-4 tsp maple syrup

How to make it:

1. Prepare tofu scramble and breakfast sausage as directed and set aside.
2. Bring milk (I use an equal mixture of almond milk and water) to a boil, add grated zucchini and oats, and reduce heat to a simmer.
3. Once more of the liquid has absorbed, add vanilla extract, salt, cinnamon, and maple syrup. Stir.
4. When you’re pleased with the consistency of the oatmeal, divide oatmeal into two bowls. Add 1/4 cup tofu scramble and one sausage patty to each bowl. Top with another shake of cinnamon and a drizzle of maple syrup.

Just an FYI:

That drizzle… 😮

Brunch can be a tricky meal for a vegan, or for someone with IBS. (And lucky me, I identify as both.) Pancakes, waffles, cinnamon rolls, pastries, etc, are all bad news for IBS. As such, I was incredibly excited to assemble this healthy-ish, fiber-packed oatmeal to enjoy everything I typically miss out on (or, TBH, eat and suffer the consequences).

And you know what? I actually planned this recipe years ago. No, really: I started this draft in December of 2015. It took three years, but I’ve finally completed it. And I’m not sure what took so long, because it was actually way less work than I expected.

You might be thinking, “Tofu scramble on top of French toast oatmeal???” Yes. Yes indeed. Or “Veggie sausage with maple syrup?” Yep. You read it right.

If you are the type of person who doesn’t like it when different foods touch or mix on your plate, then perhaps this is not the recipe for you. However, back in my meat-eating days, my maple syrup mixed with my scrambled eggs. I dipped my bacon in the maple syrup. I embraced the combinations. Thus, this oatmeal pile was born.

About the Tofu Scramble

I justified my choice to not write an actual tofu scramble recipe because 1) there are already 10 billion versions available on the internet, and 2) I assume everyone has a personal favorite already. But perhaps I was just being lazy. Who can say, really.

If you *don’t* have a favorite tofu scramble, try these: Simple Tofu Scramble by the Simple Vegan Blog, Super Eggy Vegan Tofu Scramble by Loving It Vegan, or this 10-Minute Scrambled Tofu by the The Greatist. Personally, I always use Happy Herbivore’s Tofu Scramble.

Whatever you choose, you’re looking for plain scrambles–not ones packed with beans and veggies.

About the Assembly

To be honest, this recipe took way less time than expected. Tofu scramble can be whipped up in 10-15 minutes, sausage takes about 8 minutes to saute, and the oatmeal is done in 5ish minutes. The entire project took me about half an hour, which is not bad for a weekend brunch recipe.

Still, if the idea of making multiple components for oatmeal is a turn off, here are ways to simplify the process:

• Prepare the oatmeal ahead of time by making French Toast Overnight Oatmeal and warm it up in the morning.
• Make tofu scramble for dinner and then save leftovers for the oatmeal in the morning.
• Prepare large batches of everything and reheat them in individual portions each morning. Brunch Oatmeal all week!