Eating beans and greens on New Year’s Day is said to bring you luck in the New Year. Classic beans and greens are great, but they’re more exciting when the beans are turned into a delicious flatbread and the greens are topped with tomatoes, tofu, and hollandaise sauce.
Ring in the New Year with this amazing brunch dish for a creative take on beans and greens!
Florentine is the quintessential brunch dish. It’s closely related to the ever popular Benedict, but spinach and tomato make it even more vibrant in color and flavor.
The secret ingredient to this hollandaise is kala namak, a pungent salt from the Himalayas that’s also known as black salt. Black salt’s high sulfur content gives hollandaise the classic flavor you expect. You can find it at your local Indian grocery store or on Amazon.
Makes: 4 servings
Takes: 45 minutes
Socca:
1 cup chickpea flour
1 cup water
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp salt
½ tsp garlic powder
1 Tbsp dried chives
Splash of avocado oil for greasing cast iron pan
Method:
Mix all ingredients together with a whisk and let sit for 30 minutes. While batter is resting, preheat the oven to 475°. In the last 5 of the 30 minutes, switch oven to high broil and preheat a large cast iron pan by placing it under the broiler for 5 minutes. Remove hot pan from broiler and coat lightly with avocado oil. Pour batter into pan and place under high broil for 8 minutes. Remove socca from pan. Using a ring-mold or cup, cut circles out of socca for the base of the Florentine.
Hollandaise:
1 package silken tofu
¼ cup lemon juice
¼ cup nutritional yeast
2 tsp black salt
⅛ tsp cayenne
½ tsp turmeric
4 Tbsp vegan butter, melted
Method:
Put all ingredients into a food processor or blender. Blend until smooth. Done! This makes more than you’ll need for 4 servings of Florentine. Use the rest on roasted veggies over the next few days or freeze until the next time you’re making Florentine.
Tofu Florentine:
1 14 oz package extra firm tofu
Pinch of kala namak black salt
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
2 Heirloom tomatoes
Hollandaise sauce to cover
8 rounds of Socca
1 cup spinach
Method:
Drain tofu (no need to press), and cut in half lengthwise. Cut each half into 4 equal slices. Sprinkle tofu slices with salt, pepper, and a little kala namak. Brown in a pan for 2 minutes per side. Slice the tomatoes into ¼ inch rounds. Put the hollandaise in a small pot and warm on low, stirring constantly. It warms up fast. Remove from heat and set aside.
Assembly:
Place 2 rounds of Socca on each plate and top each with spinach, a slice of tomato, and a slice of tofu. Pour a generous amount of hollandaise on top.
Finish with dill, sprouts, micro greens, or edible flowers.
Enjoy!
