I really love breakfast and one of the best things about living in Seattle is all of the awesome brunch spots around the city. However, most brunch dishes contain dairy, which my body doesn’t tolerate particularly well. As a result, I usually end up getting basic egg dishes or items where the cheese and cream can be omitted.
But sometimes, I really wish I could order those fancy-looking items off the menu. So, this past weekend I decided to recreate a baked egg dish I had recently seen on a menu and turn it into this dairy-free version of baked eggs with spinach and shallots. Although I can’t fully say how it compares to the cheese-laden original, I think it’s pretty dang good. 😉
One of my favorite swaps for dairy milk is to make homemade cashew milk. By altering the ratio of cashews to water, you can create a thicker and richer milk to use in place of heavy cream in recipes, or a thinner cashew milk to use in place of regular dairy milk.
This dish combines a rich cashew milk with baked eggs with spinach and shallots, along with a touch of garlic, thyme, salt, and pepper for a delicious, hearty breakfast that will start your day on the right foot!
Recipe notes:
- This dish is a wonderful way to get more greens into your diet! You can also use arugula or baby kale in place of the spinach if desired.
- Making your own cashew or nut milk is easy and I prefer homemade to store-bought nut milks (since some brands contain questionable ingredients like carrageenan), however, you can also substitute 1/4 cup of premade nut milk in place of blending the cashews and water.
- I wrote the recipe to yield two servings. Depending on your appetite, you can add 3 – 4 eggs, and you can even divide this out into separate baking dishes or ramekins if desired.
- 2 tablespoons raw cashews
- ¼ cup water
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil
- 2 small shallots, minced
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 8 cups baby spinach
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- 3 - 4 eggs
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- Sea salt and freshly-ground pepper
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Add cashews and water together and set aside to soak.
- Add the coconut oil to a medium pan over medium heat. Add the shallots and garlic and sauté for 1 - 2 minutes. Add the spinach and salt and cook for 2 - 3 minutes, until the spinach has wilted.
- Meanwhile, blend the cashews and water until liquified.
- Add the spinach mixture to an ovenproof dish and pour in the cashew milk. Make 3 (or 4) indentations in the spinach and carefully crack in the eggs. Top with the dried thyme and bake for 10 - 15 minutes, or until whites are just set but the yolks are still runny.
- Serve immediately, topped with additional salt and pepper to taste, if desired.
4
Hi Sonnet, we tried it today and it was exellent 👍 and quite easy and quick to prepare! We just used big spinach leaves because we are used to eat them ☺