Post sponsored by The American Pecan Council. See below for more details.
I am a morning person. I think there is nothing better than getting up early, making a cup of coffee, and enjoying the cool morning air. It’s my best time of day. It stands to reason, then, that I also love breakfast. This breakfast bowl my idea of a perfect start. It's packed full of protein and good fats along with one of my favorite summer treats: roasted tomatoes!
However, I think the best part of this recipe is the za'atar pecans. I love using pecans in a savory way because they lend a natural sweet and buttery flavor to the overall recipe- a perfect compliment for the sumac and thyme in the za'atar! Best of all, the pecans add the right amount of crunchy texture to this breakfast bowl. I love keeping a stash of roasted nuts on hand and pecans are packed full of good monounsaturated fat and dietary fiber. A perfect afternoon snack or happy hour addition!
One quick note: watch your pecan storage! All that good oil means pecans are a bit more susceptible to spoiling when stored at room temperature. I keep a stash in my freezer and thaw only what I need. You can store pecans in the refrigerator for up to nine months or up to two years in the freezer (granted, mine are usually gone within a month!)
PrintQuinoa Breakfast Bowl with Za'atar Pecans
A perfect power breakfast with quinoa, eggs, and roasted pecans tossed with one of my favorite spice blends: za'atar.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
Ingredients
Tomatoes:
- 2 cups cherry or grape tomatoes
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
Pecans:
- ⅔ cup raw pecan halves
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 to 2 tablespoons za'atar
Bowls:
- 1 cup uncooked quinoa
- 4 large eggs, poached or fried
- Minced parsley, for serving
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400˚F. Slice the tomatoes in half and place in a roasting pan. Toss with olive oil and salt. Roast until tomatoes are soft and starting to brown, 25 to 30 minutes.
- Place pecans in a roasting pan or sheet tray and toss with olive oil. Roast for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and carefully toss with za’atar. Return to oven and roast for another 2 to 3 minutes, until the nuts are fragrant. Remove from oven and let cool.
- Rinse the quinoa and place in a pan with 2 cups water. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, cover, and cook for 12 minutes or until most of the water has been absorbed. After 12 minutes, turn off heat and let quinoa sit for 5 minutes.
- Assemble the bowls: divide quinoa into four bowls. Top with tomatoes, fried or poached egg, and pecans. Top with parsley and serve.
Notes
Tips & Tricks: You can make the pecans, tomatoes, and quinoa ahead of time and assemble in the morning.
Stock up: get the pantry ingredients you will need: Quinoa, Tomatoes, Pecans
Nutrition: see the information.
Nutrition
- Calories: 420
- Sodium: 230
- Fat: 26
- Carbohydrates: 34
- Fiber: 6
- Protein: 15
- Cholesterol: 185
Breakfast Bowl
variations
I love the mix of protein from the quinoa, egg, and pecans. I've found that I keep energy way longer during the morning when I start my morning with a breakfast bowl like this one. A few other suggestions to mix up this bowl:
Vegan: Drop the egg and top the bowl with your favorite fried or baked tofu recipe.
Grains: I love quinoa because it's a power grain that works well with so many flavors. However, you can easily swap it for any grain (or multigrain mix) you might already have on hand.
Greens: If I have a any greens on hand, I'll often make these garlicky greens and add to the bowl as well.
Explore Pecans
I've enjoyed this partnership with the American Pecan Council because I've learned so much about this cooking powerhouse. Pecans are the only tree nut that is original to America and grown extensively throughout the South. In fact, most of the world’s supply of pecans come from 15 U.S. states, including Georgia, New Mexico and Texas.
Because of this, pecans have an impact on traditional American cuisine. I grew up eating pecan pie for the holidays but it's become a favorite ingredient in all of my plant-based cooking! I love making pecan milk/cream to use with morning porridges and soups.
Pecan Chickpea Crumble
Pumpkin Pancakes with Brown Butter and Pecans
Roasted Butternut Squash, Quinoa, and Arugula Salad
Disclosure: This recipe was created in partnership with The American Pecan Council. All thoughts and opinions are my own. It’s content like this that helps me keep this site running to provide the vegetarian recipes you see every week.
Tori//Gringalicious.com says
Omg, this looks wonderful and all those pecans just make me want to dive in!
jan says
recipe for za'atar ?
Erin Alderson says
Here: https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/zaatar-106776
Nirosha says
Your recipes are inspired, Erin.
Made this for lunch with some wilted spinach and it was divine!
A friend was recently telling us about the Za'atar bread shops in Jordan, where she travelled many years ago which sold freshly baked flat breads topped with za'atar. We tried it ourselves over a BBQ and devoured it! Since then, I've been exploring using Za'tar in recipes and look forward to trying more of yours.