Okay. When I think of a fancy hotel brunch... I think of a classy open-faced smoky carrot lox bagel. So what if I told you... you could treat yourself to this special breakfast - at home - whenever you want... for less than $3?
This vegan carrot lox bagel is:
Perfectly Smoky
With That Hint Of The Sea
And A Creamy Dill Spread
It's Easy To Prepare In Advance
And Costs Us $2.63 per serving!
The Secret Ingredient
Carrots!
This simple swap delivers huge taste, the same gorgeous looking lox, and stunning savings!
- 500g of our carrot lox (enough for 4 servings of open-faced lox bagels) costs us: CAD $3.22.
- 500g of the traditional smoked salmon would cost us: CAD $16.66 - $29.97 depending on whether we purchase the smoked salmon from a wholesale store or our local grocery store.
That's a rough savings of $13 - $26! Just for the lox!
500g of carrot lox (5-6 large carrots) gives you plenty of lox to work with. Even if you wanted to use half the amount of smoked salmon; it would cost, at minimum, $8.33 for 250g. That's still a savings of over $5 for the full 500g of our carrot lox.
Building A Smoky Carrot Lox Bagel
Traditionally, you need:
Your favourite bagels
A creamy dill spread
The smoky carrot lox
And your preferred garnish (we love fresh dill and capers)
Some more great perks this lox has to offer?
- The dill spread and the lox are best prepared in advance.
- Making this lox breakfast bagel the perfect brunch to take on the road for your relaxing weekend getaway or that holiday potluck.
- Simply toast your bagel, slather on the dill spread, top with your cold smoky lox, garnish, and enjoy!
Everything is in the recipe below, but for a more detailed walk through of how the carrots become a smoked salmon substitute with just 10 minutes prep and 25 minutes in the oven, jump over to our post for our simple Smoky Carrot Lox.
And if you need some convincing to make the creamy dill spread from scratch, jump to our Easy, Creamy, Heavenly - Dill Breakfast Spread. We run through how it costs half the price of your store-bought cream cheese!
So what do you think? Will you stay in your robe and treat yourself to a fancy, relaxing morning? Or wow your friends and family with this gourmet addition to your holiday party? Let us know in the comments below! And send us your pictures using #tastythriftytimely on Instagram.
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Smoky Carrot Lox Bagel With Tofu "Cream Cheese"
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Diet: Vegan
Description
This easy smoky carrot lox bagel offers huge savings and major fancy breakfast points! 10 min prep, 25 min bake, refrigerate, and serve!
Ingredients
- 4 bagels of choice*
- Dill and capers for garnish*
Smoky Carrot Lox:
- 500g carrots (I use 5-6 large carrots, peeled, and sliced thin)*
- 2 ½ tbsp olive oil (if doubling, see notes)
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tbsp tamari or soy sauce
- 1-2 tablespoon dulse flakes (or 2 snack sheets of nori, sliced small)
- 2 tsp liquid smoke
Creamy Dill Breakfast Spread:
- 200g extra firm tofu
- 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 1 ½ tbsp lemon juice
- ¼ tsp sea salt
- ¼ tsp black pepper
- ¾ tsp garlic powder
- 1 tbsp fresh or frozen dill
- ⅛ - ¼ cup non dairy milk (if doubling, see notes)
- ½ tbsp apple cider vinegar
*Fresh ingredients you need that are not part of our pantry and freezer tips.
Instructions
- Start by preparing your carrot lox. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Wash, peel, and thinly slice your carrots into long strips using a mandoline, vegetable peeler, or cheese slicer. Alternatively, try and cut them by hand as thinly as you can.
- Lay the sliced carrots in an ovenproof casserole dish and sprinkle with salt. Cover with foil or a baking sheet to allow the carrots to steam. Bake for 25 minutes until they are nice and tender. They are soft enough when they are easily pierced with a fork. If the slices were thicker you may need to bake them longer.
- While the carrots bake, make the smoky lox marinade by combining all the ingredients in a shallow dish.
- When the marinade is done, make the dill breakfast spread. Add all the ingredients to your blender and blend until smooth and creamy. Transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate ideally for 2 hours or overnight. The spread will thicken nicely as it sits in the fridge.
- When the carrots are done cooking, add them to the dish with the marinade and gently turn them with a spoon or your hands to make sure they all get coated.
- Cover and marinate in the fridge for a minimum of 2 hours to strengthen the flavours.
- To serve, spread a generous amount of creamy dill spread on the bagel and top with a handful of carrots; folding them over and stacking them as you would smoked salmon. Top with capers and fresh dill. Serve open-faced or top with another half a bagel and serve as a full sandwich.
- The carrots keep well in the fridge for up to 5 days and the tofu spread will keep well for 1 week.
Notes
*Approximate Cost: CAD $10.51 ($2.63/serving) vs. at least CAD $23.95 using smoked salmon.
*The 500g of carrot lox for this recipe costs us CAD $3.22 vs. a minimum of CAD $16.66 for 500g smoked salmon.
*If you double the lox and the spread, start by not doubling the oil for the lox and the milk and lemon juice for the spread. There should be enough marinade for the carrots without doubling the oil, but add more if you feel like it needs it. Likewise, you should be able to blend the breakfast spread without doubling the milk and start with the lesser amount of lemon juice. Add more after you’ve started blending and can give it a taste, but starting with the lesser amount will ensure you don't add too much liquid and end up with a spread that's too runny.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: American
Ron
Ron May 12, 2021 at 1:52 pm
Haven’t tried a lot of your recipes yet, but the Stunning breakfast lox is my favourite so far and it makes a delicious leftover lox lunch too!
Ronnie
REPLY
Kathryn Alexandre
Oh fantastic! I'm glad you love it any time of day! I hope you find some more favourites on our site!
Ron
Another 5 star favourite here.
Kathryn Alexandre
So happy to hear it!