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Kitchen Sink Casserole nutritious, delicious

Kathy Manweiler McClatchy Newspapers

Panera’s Kitchen Sink Brunch Casserole makes breakfast easy – just toss some ingredients in a pan overnight and bake it the next morning.

But that dish definitely isn’t healthy. The original version calls for a pound of bacon, cups of half-and-half, a heap of shredded cheese, butter and large eggs. The only redeeming quality in the casserole is spinach, but Panera only puts 1/3 cup of the green stuff in the mix.

A single serving of the original casserole weighs in at 615 calories and 45.5 fat grams. If you ate three original glazed Krispy Kreme doughnuts instead, you’d actually save 15 calories and 9.5 grams of fat.

So I decided to reform this recipe to create a brunch favorite that’s both delicious and nutritious.

My alterations to this casserole reduce the calories by 59 percent and decrease the fat by 85 percent.

You can have a serving of my Kitchen Sink Brunch Casserole for 255 calories and 6.7 fat grams.

Kathy’s Kitchen Sink Brunch Casserole

Adapted from a recipe in the “Panera Bread Cookbook.”

Cooking spray

8 (2-ounce) slices of French bread, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

8 center-cut bacon slices, cooked and finely crumbled

1 cup cooked spinach

1 cup tomatoes, seeded and chopped

3/4 cup finely shredded Cheddar cheese made with 2 percent milk

1 1/4 cups egg substitute, such as EggBeaters

1/2 cup half and half

1 1/2 cups 2 percent milk

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon dried mustard

3 scallions, chopped, for garnish

1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped, for garnish

Lightly coat a 9-by-13-inch baking pan with cooking spray. Place the bread cubes in the pan. Add the crumbled bacon, spinach and tomatoes. Top with shredded cheese. Whisk together egg substitute, half-and- half, 2 percent milk, salt and dried mustard. Pour egg mixture over bread mixture and tamp down the bread with a spatula to thoroughly soak each piece of bread in the egg mixture. Cover baking dish with aluminum foil and refrigerate overnight.

In the morning, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Remove foil and bake for 35 to 45 minutes, or until casserole is set and browned on top. Let the casserole stand 5 minutes before serving. Garnish with scallions and parsley. Serve hot.

Yield: 8 servings

Approximate nutrition per serving: 255 calories, 6.7 grams fat, 16 grams protein, 31 grams carbohydrate, 13 milligrams cholesterol, 1.8 grams dietary fiber, 930 milligrams sodium.