Breakfast + Lunch = Brunch

Forget about the eggs and bacon and try to think out of the box when cooking breakfast. I am not a big "breakfast food" person so I like to create a meal fit for a brunch. This morning my cousin Alex was supposed to come by so I cooked up something special. Unfortunately, she had to reschedule and I was left with lots of food! So I had a nice brunch with myself and wrapped the rest up to eat in the morning with Danny. I had to share this recipe with my readers because it came out so good. It just goes to show you that with simple flavors and a lot of love, you can create something easy and delicious.

Black Eyed Pea Cakes and Confetti Corn

The first thing you want to do is prepare the black eyed peas and potatoes. Just rinse the peas and then simmer in water for about one and a half hours. It should list directions on the back of the package. You will only need about 1/2 cup for this recipe. For the potatoes I used little red ones and left the skin on. These are great for mashed potatoes. I would say about 6 -8 would be good. Cut them in fourths and boil in a pot of salted water for about an hour or so until they are soft.

While these are cooking you want to prepare your corn. Its so easy! Just take about 1 1/2 - 2 cups of cooked corn and put it in a bowl. Chop up 1/4 onion and 1/2 of a pepper (red or green) and add them to the bowl. Then for some flavor add some parsley, cilantro, salt and pepper. Put on the side.

Once the peas and potatoes are done, drain both. Mash the potatoes and add salt & pepper, 2 tbsp of butter (Earth Balance), 1 - 2 tbsp of fresh parsley, about 2 tbsp of sour cream and mix all together. Then add the black eyed peas and mix again.

Next, you want to get the panko mix together. Mix about 1/2 cup of panko, fresh parsley, fresh basil (dried is fine too) salt & pepper and some parmesan cheese in a bowl. Make cakes out of the potato mixture about 1/4 cup each. I do this so they are all the same size. They are very delicate so do not treat them as if you were making hamburgers. Be gentle! Cover them in the panko mix on both sides and put them aside on a plate.

Now you are ready to cook. In a large pan put about 2 tbsp of olive oil and wait till its hot. Fry up the potato cakes until they are golden brown. In another pan, put a little bit of butter and saute the confetti corn until the onions and peppers are slightly cooked. I would say about 10 minutes. Make sure you drain each cake when they come out to take the excess oil off. Greasy food is gross!

Now you can finally eat! This meal may be a little time consuming but its really easy and I promise you everyone will love it.