Sausage Casserole with a Spam Kick

We recently had a "breakfast social" at work. I wanted to take a dish with a slightly Asian (well, Hawaiian, actually) twist. Did you know the residents of Hawaii and the territories of Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands consume the most Spam per capita in the U.S.? True story.

It also had to be something I could prepare the night before, pop in the oven the morning of and, most importantly, portable. Nothing good will come of toting drippy or squishy eats through the NOVA/DC Metro system.

My brain cells went into overdrive. It's going to need another month to recover but, the ol' brain came through. With a little help from Spam, this is what I came up with.

Quick recipe: fave breakfast... 2 slices of Pepperidge Farm cinnamon swirl raisin bread. One egg white, fried. One slice spam, fried. One slice cheese (I use muenster). Approx 240 calories. Sweetness of raisins mixed with salty of spam and texture of eggs... yeah. So good and so filling.

Happy eating! 
 
Ingredients

• 4 Large eggs
• 1 Tablespoon salt
• 2 Tablespoons garlic powder
• 1 Tablespoon ground black pepper
• 1 Teaspoon hot pepper sauce (Preference: Tabasco)
• 2 Cups cheddar cheese
• 1 Medium-size yellow onion
• 1 Tablespoon unsalted butter
• 2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus for greasing the pan
• 1 Tablespoon light brown sugar
• 1-Pound package of pork sausage (Preference: Jimmy Dean’s)
• 1/3 Cup low-sodium Spam, diced
• 1 Cup cooked brown rice
• 3 Stalks scallion, sliced

Directions

• Preheat oven to 375. Grease a 9 x 13 baking pan. Set aside.
• Whisk the eggs, salt, half of the garlic powder, half of the black pepper and hot pepper sauce. Set aside.
• Heat a large skillet on medium heat. Add butter and half of the oil. Add onions and cook until soft. Add brown sugar. Cook, stirring frequently, until caramelized. The color should be golden brown. Place in a large bowl. Set aside.
• In the same skillet, add the rest of the oil, sausage and spam. Season with half of the garlic powder and half of the black pepper. Cook until sausage is done. Add the mixture to the bowl of onions. Add brown rice and scallions to the bowl of goodness. Mix until thoroughly combined. 

• Pour the egg mixture over the entire thing. Using a fork, poke, poke, poke until the egg mixture is thoroughly set.
• Pour into the baking pan and bake for 20 minutes or until the egg is set and golden brown. 

Let it rest a bit… about 10 minutes before serving. Burnt tongues don’t make for fun breakfast conversations. Plus, you want the casserole in one piece… gooey, not so much.