Egg, Sausage, & Spinach Breakfast Bake

The holiday season just wouldn't be complete without out-of-town company.  Whether it's rarely-seen relatives or dearly-missed friends coming to visit you here in Kansas City this time of year, you can start their day out right by serving this flavorful breakfast bake:


Ingredients:

1 lb of pork sausage (TIP:  if you want to reduce the fat calories in this recipe, use sliced-up Canadian bacon instead)

1 small package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed until dry

6 bacon strips, cooked and crumbled up (TIP: to make it easy, use a jar of real bacon pieces - found by the salad dressing at the grocery store)

1/4 cup finely chopped onion

1/4 cup finely chopped red pepper  (TIP:  chop onion and red pepper quickly by using a small food processor)

1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese

10 eggs

3/4 cup milk

1/2 tsp dill weed

1 tsp garlic powder

1 1/2 tsp chili powder

1 tsp pepper

1/4 tsp salt


Directions:

If you are using sausage, cook it over medium heat until it is no longer pink.  If you are using Canadian bacon, you do not need to precook it.  

Spread the sausage or Canadian bacon into a greased 9 x 13 baking pan.  

Next, layer the spinach, bacon, onion, red pepper, and cheeses into the pan.

In a bowl, beat together the eggs, milk, and seasonings.

Pour the mixture evenly over the top of the layered casserole.

Bake at 375 degrees for approximately 30-35 minutes or until a knife inserted into the center of the breakfast bake comes out clean.

Let the breakfast bake sit for a few minutes before cutting into pieces.

Serve to hungry family and guests!

TIP:  If you want to make this dish ahead of time, it keeps well in the fridge or the freezer.  It also tastes great leftover. 

Give Your Tastebuds a Bite of "Gourmet On The Go" at Orange Box

Read more here: http://pressreleases.kcstar.com/release/messages/17386/#storylink=cpy

Some of the delicious food choices at Orange Box

Tired of the same old lunch spots?  Longing for a new eating place that’s unique, offers a variety of fresh food options and is absolutely delicious?  Introduce your taste buds to Orange Box.

Discretely tucked into a small brick building on the corner of 27^th and Jarboe, Orange Box is a quirky, original restaurant which opened earlier this year for midday diners. 

Their menu includes regular daily specials like buffalo chicken and prime rib sandwiches on Mondays, soul food and fish and chips on Tuesdays, Reubens and gyros on Wednesdays, fried pork tenderloin sandwiches and sunrise salads on Thursdays and fish tacos and grilled hamburgers on Fridays.

Besides the regular daily specials, Orange Box also offers a variety of other fresh salads, deli sandwiches, side dishes and desserts that change often – depending on ingredient availability, the season, and the chef’s culinary mood.

Pork tenderloin sandwich with tomato/mozzarella salad

On the day I was there, Orange Box's menu also included a turkey and Brie sandwich with blackberry mayonnaise, seafood salad, spicy beer cheese soup with cheddar biscuits, gyros, and an adult pig-in-a-blanket. 

Available side items were baked potato salad, a vegetable medley, fresh-sliced fruit salad with strawberries, pineapples and cantaloupe and a tomato-mozzarella salad. 

For dessert, just-out-of-the-oven chocolate chip cookies and homemade double-layer coconut cake rounded out the menu.

Turkey and Brie sandwich

Everything I sampled at Orange Box was extremely yummy - including the pork tenderloin, turkey and Brie sandwich, spicy beer and cheese soup, baked potato salad, tomato-mozzarella salad and a chocolate chip cookie. 

In fact, by the time I was done eating, two things were certain.  First, I was really full.  And second, I would be visiting Orange Box again because everything was that tasty.

More than anything, it was the unexpected flavor of the food that made it so memorable.  I had no idea that blackberry mayonnaise could make a sandwich so wonderfully sweet and tangy or that potato salad could be so addictive – and the truth is, I hate potato salad, but the baked potato salad at Orange Box was so good that I devoured every last bite.

Orange Box is conveniently set up for anyone who wants to run in and grab a to-go order of homemade goodness, but they also offer several tables, a couch and an easy chair for those who want to dine in.

The prices at Orange Box are slightly higher than drive-thru, fast-food lunches. My tenderloin sandwich with a generous side of baked potato salad ran $8.50. 

Inside Orange Box

I felt like I got what I paid for, however, because the quality, uniqueness and flavor of Orange Box’s food versus many other lunch spots was worth it. 

The only problem I had while at Orange Box was a broken fountain drink machine.  It was no big deal, however, because they had plenty of bottled water, sodas, and other drinks to choose from.

As far as the service, it also met expectations.  The counter help was not the most knowledgeable about all the food items, but she was so friendly and willing to find out the answers to my questions, that it was easy to overlook that issue. 

Orange Box does have a small parking lot and plenty of street parking for patrons.  It is owned by Scott Welsch, who is also the executive chef there as well as longtime owner/chef of Cuisine KC and Metro Catering.

Welsch's big goal at Orange Box seems to be providing great gourmet food “on the go,” and as far as I am concerned, he is doing just that.

Orange Box is located at 2700 Jarboe.  They can be reached at 816-756-5200 or found on the web at www.orangeboxkc.com.

Their hours are:  Monday thru Friday 11:00 a.m – 2:30 p.m., and on Saturdays from 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.  To find out up-to-date information about Orange Box, including their daily menu offerings, simply click on their Facebook page.