Baked beans on toast, sautéed mushrooms, fried bread, grilled tomato, fried mashed potatoes, these where the most common vegetarian foods I came upon when researching the "typical English breakfast".  My motivation for my research is a lovely English women I have been chatting with via our blogs and e-mail.  She had the wonderful idea for us to periodically challenge each other to make a dish from the other one's cuisine based on a theme.  For our first challenge Lysy choose Breakfast/Brunch.  She has done her research on the "typical American breakfast" and posted her menu on her blog Munchkin Mail.  Be sure to stop by for a visit and see what she cooked up!

Since we are both vegetarians and cook low fat, healthy food, we allowed a little "creative leeway" in our concoctions.  I decided to base my English breakfast on the above mentioned foods but with a twist.  Instead of serving baked beans on toast with the sauteed mushrooms and grilled tomatoes on the side, I opted to combine them in a saute which could then be scooped up with the crispy bread and embellished with a little vinegar, worcestershire sauce or hot sauce. 

My healthy spin to fried mashed potatoes was to bake two russet potatoes, scoop out the flesh and grate it on a box grater then form them into two "cakes" with a small amount of flour to help hold them together.  Instead of frying them I grilled them on my George Foreman grill on medium for 10 minutes.  Wilson loved them drizzled with vinegar in the same manner in which he ate chips in England.  I don't know if it is appropriate to sprinkle vinegar on your breakfast potato but it sure is tasty!

Thank you Lysy for coming up with the great idea for our Intercontinental Cooking Challenge!

English Breakfast Sauté

1 large onion, coarsely chopped

1 container cremini mushrooms, stems removed and quartered

1 15-oz can navy beans, rinsed and drained

3 plum tomatoes, thickly sliced and quartered

1 tsp Herbes de Provence

s/p

Heat a little olive oil in a saute pan.  Once hot add the onions and saute for a few minutes until they become tender.  Add the mushrooms but do not stir, you want them to caramelize.  After about 3 minutes toss them so they cook on the other side for an additional 3-5 minutes or so.  Gently stir in the beans, tomatoes, herbs, salt and pepper.  Cook just until heated through.  Serve along with some nice rustic grilled bread and fried mashed potatoes. 

Of course don't forget your delicious English Breakfast Tea!