Savory Bread Pudding with Roasted Vegetables

It's feeling a bit blustery around these parts. And by blustery, I mean a balmy 40 degrees (so warm for mid-November). Bring on the sub-zero temps and snow!

Because you know what that means...

It's time to bulk up for hibernation with ALL THE CARBS. How could one resist? I mean, look at those delicious morsels of yeasty goodness above. (And for those of you who loathe carbs, well, deal.)

 Don't worry, I'll balance it out with some veggies (peppa, zucchinis, shrooms...)

(Can we just note for the record that indoor lighting is AWFUL for pictures. Do you see these pictures?! Awful. Natural light is the way to go people... but being at school from o'dark thirty to o'dark thirty kills the ability to get said light. This is my life's struggle. Le sigh.)

But, let's make up for the sucky stunning pictures. There are carbs to be eaten! And cheese to be melted all over the bread morsels! Oh, the comfort of it all! And then there are veggies (to keep the scurvy away... or was that fruit?).

To be honest, I was super tentative about this recipe at first. Actually, backtracking 15ish years, I was appalled at the very idea of a bread "pudding." I mean, who makes a dessert out of a loaf of bread. Who makes a pudding out of bread? Weirdos.  Just eat the damn baguette. Plus, my mom liked (likes?) bread pudding the best. 

For any teenager out there:

(Does anyone else love those skits? ...Bueller? ...Bueller? Just me? I have no life, people, no life.).

But I have seen the light! The glorious, delicious light (that is so obviously not present in these pictures). And I became "cultured" to the world of exotic foods, like bread pudding! So, naturally, the next best thing is to make that sweet dessert bread pudding as savory as possible (salty fo' life) and really trash it up with cheese and whatever else I can find.

(Ugh, this lighting.)

This was probably one of the easier meals that I have made as of recent. And I LOVE easy meals (and any excuse to eat an entire baguette among me, myself, and I). Oh, and there was wine. Yeah, that happened, too.

The flavors are amazing. I loved the rosemary but think I went a bit over the top (Note: Do not use ALL THE ROSEMARY for ALL THE CARBS. It's a bad idea. Did I mention the wine? That may or may not have been a factor in my excitedness).

That aside, this is a definite brunch dish (love me some brunch #basicwhitegirl). Also, it is highly versatile, and I would love to vary it by adding in Gorgonzola or maybe some Jarlsberg cheese. (Side story: I once had a roommate who hated Jarlsberg and another who stated that Gorgonzola was only "okay." #whydoyouhatecheese #unamerican #howdidieverlivewiththem).

Maybe some baby bella mushrooms would go well with this in place of the standard white? #teamjacob #absfordays #notafterthiscarbfest #allthehashtags

And, I'm done (being obnoxious that is).

Savory Bread Pudding with Roasted Vegetables
adapted from Carolina Girl Cooks

1/2 of a day old baguette (or more, because you know you want to)
1 red pepper, cut in bite size pieces (green works just fine, for the budget savvy)
1 medium zucchini, cut in bite size pieces
1/2 large sweet onion, sliced
8 oz package of sliced mushrooms (baby bellas!)
1 Tbsp of fresh chopped rosemary (do not add more, I repeat, do not add more)
1 Tbsp of olive oil
6 eggs
3/4 cup cottage cheese (feel free to use slightly less here)
1 clove of garlic, roughly minced
1/3 cup of fresh grated parmesan cheese
salt and pepper

Preheat yo oven to 400 degrees. On a big baking sheet, lay out the pepper, zucchini, onion and mushrooms in a single layer.  Drizzle the olive oil over the veggies and toss to coat. Top the veggies with the chopped rosemary and then sprinkle with a little bit of salt and pepper. Roast at 400 degrees for 15 minutes, stirring halfway through, until the vegetables have cooked down and are browned.

While the veggies are cooking, cut the baguette into cubes and place it in a baking dish.

Place the 6 eggs, cottage cheese, garlic clove and another sprinkle of salt and pepper in a food processor (or blender, whatevs). Blend until smooth. (Seriously blend the bejeebers out of this. Otherwise stuff gets weird. Seriously, weird.)

Put the cooked veggies over the baguette in the baking dishes. Stir together. Pour the egg mixture over the veggie mixture. Sprinkle the parmesan cheese over the bread pudding. Lower the oven temperature to 350 degrees, and bake for 20 to 30 minutes until the eggs have set and the top of the pudding is browned and crisp.

Omgosh #carbs