Zone Weekend Brunch: 4 Recipes for a Slow Saturday Morning

Weekends are for slow mornings, a long cup of coffee and a breakfast that drifts into lunch. The Zone doesn't ask you to give that up. We picked four recipes from ZoneIt made exactly for mornings like these, and added a quick tip to each on how to make it a balanced meal.

1. Eggs Benedict

The brunch classic: toasted sourdough, deli ham and a poached egg on top. Eggs Benedict take a bit more attention because of the poaching, which is exactly why they're a weekend dish and not a weekday one.

How to balance it: on their own, they're about 3 blocks of protein, 4 of carbs and 3 of fat. The hollandaise from the next recipe adds 2 more blocks each of protein and fat. Serve them with fruit, such as a cup of strawberries, and you have a balanced meal of 5 blocks of each.

2. Zone Hollandaise

Classic hollandaise is made with lots of melted butter over a double boiler. The Zone Hollandaise is made from hard-boiled eggs, an egg yolk, sour cream and lemon juice, blended until smooth. It's ready in about twenty minutes and won't break like the classic version.

How to use it: the sauce has protein and fat but no carbs. Besides Eggs Benedict, it goes well with steamed asparagus or broccoli, which add the carbs.

3. Shakshuka

Eggs cooked right in a sauce of tomatoes, peppers and onion, with a little low-fat cheese on top. Shakshuka is made in one pan, it's vegetarian, and it goes straight to the table, which makes it perfect for a shared brunch.

How to balance it: the whole pan is about 7 blocks of protein, 8 of fat and only 3 of carbs, so it's enough for two. Each person adds about 2 blocks of carbs to their half, for example a slice of bread to soak up the sauce and a piece of fruit.

4. Zucchini Dip

Roasted zucchini, strained yogurt, skyr, garlic and dill. The Zucchini Dip tastes best after it sits in the fridge, so you can make it Friday night and simply set it on the table on Saturday.

How to balance it: the whole bowl is about 4 blocks of protein and 2 of carbs, but a full 8 of fat from the olive oil. If you're having it as a meal on its own, use half the olive oil and serve it with fresh vegetables or fruit for 2 more blocks of carbs. If it's a side to the other dishes, take a little at a time and go easy on fat in the rest of your plate.

How to set up a shared brunch

• Protein goes in the center of the table. Eggs, ham, skyr or cheese are the foundation, not the extras.
• Carbs come mostly from fruit and vegetables. A bowl of fruit and a plate of sliced vegetables are a better choice than a pile of pastries.
• Everyone serves themselves. Use the simple plate formula from Zone for Beginner Cooks: protein first, then fruit and vegetables, and finally a little fat.
• Brunch is breakfast. If it's a late one, count it as breakfast and lunch combined, and eat something small beforehand so you don't sit down at the table after five hours without food.

All four recipes are in ZoneIt with blocks already calculated, so you can add the ingredients to your Shopping list today and simply enjoy the morning on Saturday.