The Irish Breakfast Roll

If you're Irish you've probably had / heard of the famous Irish Breakfast Roll at some stage. It's the main thing I see people (especially hungry construction workers!) ordering at the deli around the corner from my workplace in the morning. For those of you who aren't in-the-know, a breakfast roll is a white baguette filled with loads of greasy fry-up food of your choice, such as bacon, eggs, tomatoes, mushrooms, black pudding, white pudding, hash browns and sausages, smothered in a large amount of ketchup. A hearty feast, and probably one that contributes greatly to the obesity problem! I see nothing wrong with a large breakfast, in fact I do believe it's the most important meal of the day, seeing as you indeed do need most energy early in the morning when you're out and about and working hard. I actually do prefer a larger breakfast and lunch to a larger dinner - it makes sense, seeing as usually in the evenings the average person is relaxing in front of the TV and not burning off any calories.

My breakfasts usually consist of things such as bagels, toast or crumpets, covered in something like jam, peanut butter or hazelnut chocolate spread. Or maybe porridge with jam, or some banana overnight oats. Occasionally I might also have baked beans and potato waffles. Whatever I make, it's always something quite quick, but I'll always make sure that it's enough to keep me going until at least mid morning (when I usually devour a soya yoghurt snack) or until my lunch.

However, I've been inspired recently to make a vegan alternative to an Irish breakfast roll. Not only is it so much healthier for you, what with the wholegrain bread and the distinct lack of animal fat, but it's also just as tasty and would probably be really enjoyed by meat eaters too!

Here's what I've included:

- Vegan Sausage (Vegi Deli made by Redwood)
- Silken Tofu, Scrambled with some Pepper
- Vegan Bacon (Vegi Deli made by Redwood)
- Fried Mushrooms & Onions
- Grilled Tomatoes
- Lots of Ketchup
- Wholegrain Seedy Brown Baguette

I left out the hash browns, because I really think there are enough carbs in this roll without including those as well. Also, I don't really see the need to substitute the black/white pudding in the roll, as there's enough meaty substance in there anyway what with the vegan sausages and bacon. Another reason for not wanting to substitute the pudding is the fact that WHO IN THEIR RIGHT MIND REALLY WANTS TO EAT THAT?! If you don't know what black pudding is, prepare yourself and click on this link. Yup, it's not good.

The Sausages were really good, they were "pork style" and my favourite way to eat them is heated in the microwave, otherwise they get a little too dry under the grill. I'd say they would be fine fried up or marinaded in something then done on the barbecue. I've never tried vegan bacon before either, so I didn't know what to expect. I'm sort of in two minds about it, it was very tasty and had that smoky, salty bacony taste, but under the grill it went like cardboard even though I brushed it in oil. They did much better in the frying pan however, so I'd do them like that in future. All of it combined together was lovely though, because the softness of the scrambled tofu, fried onions, mushrooms, grilled tomato and layer upon layer of ketchup contrasted really nicely with the more solid sausages and bacon. I heated the roll up a bit too before putting everything inside, so it was nice and fluffy. It was quite messy to eat... but what breakfast roll isn't?! I'll definitely be having it again, and the next morning I had the scramble with the sausages, bacon, mushrooms and some baked beans. YUM!

So there you have it, a nice vegan version of one of my country's favourite sandwiches :)

Looks far tastier, healthier and more succulent than this, and far less likely to give you a heart attack!