I’ve made bagels a few times (they’re not the best, but they’re mine, damnit!), and am planning on making some this weekend for a brunch.
I will, of course, get the requisite cream cheese, lox, red onion, tomato, and capers that make up the most ‘traditional’ collection of toppings. In addition, I’m thinking of making a thick and well-seasoned hummus. Maybe cucumber slices.
What are your ideas, preferably vegetarian? What are your favorite non- cream cheese spreads/toppings?
I like lox.
I’d also like to say that, regardless of toppings, I really like them toasted.
This may be boring, but I sometimes really appreciate just some butter on a bagel; especially on a toasted or flavored bagel, and double especially on a toasted flavored bagel.
I pretty much always either put butter on a bagel, or cream cheese and smoked salmon. And when i buy bagels for others, I sometimes additionally offer chive cream cheese, (requested flavors of cream cheese for a group), sliced onions, sliced cucumbers, sliced tomatoes, and capers.
That’s pretty much it. Don’t mess with a classic.
I also like them toasted, especially if they aren’t very fresh.
For a plain toasted bagel I will often go with just a plain creamy peanut butter.
I go with cream cheese, but with a little sriracha on top. Like, a thin circle on top of the cheese.
I toast them, then use one of two go-to spreads. The first is to use store-bought salmon cream cheese (Philadelphia) topped with crumbled bacon, tomato and dill weed. The second is to mash up an avocado with some salt and lemon olive oil and add some chopped tomato, then pile it on the bagel. I may or may not add bacon to it.
A couple of variables.
First, quality of the bagel - the worse the bagel, the stronger the toppings. Doesn’t really apply to the OP, since these are their homemade ones, but with good bagels, less is absolutely more.
Personal preference is lox and cream cheese, though I love cream cheese with sliced fresh, quality tomatoes with a bit of smoked salt and red onion nearly as much.
Since we want to give more options, I’ll go with several others that I personally like, but may or may not match the tastes of others.
First, it’s a trope, but I do actually enjoy a ripe Hass avocado, lightly smashed with good salt, a dash of lemon juice, and a dozen grinds of black pepper smooshed down on top of a bagel.
Related, if you make homemade guac (Hass, fresh tomatoes, fresh cilantro, fresh onion, plenty of lime and salt, and several amazing fresh chili peppers) it is a thing of beauty on a good garlic or onion bagel.
And, equally different, some homemade hummus schmeered on top is lovely as well. In my case, made with chickpeas, garlic, onion, cilantro, lime and roasted green chiles, plus roasted garlic cloves, salt, and sprinkled with aleppo pepper or ground sumac berries.
Of course, if it’s a bagel that you’re enjoying in it’s own right, a smear of good, fresh butter can’t be beat. I like a salted Kerrygold or TJ Cultured butter, applied after the bagel has cooled a bit so that I get a mix of solid creamy butter and melted goodness sinking in.
BTW…
CURSE YOU!
You know I’m going to TJ’s in a few minutes to get some groceries. This is going to be rough…
Bagels make for excellent cold cut sandwiches and they’re fantastic with Cheam Cheese and Chives.
I’ve been eating bagels for 70 years, and all I want on them is Philadelphia Cream Cheese and lox. Though I love other smoked fish, like sable or whitefish when available. I also use left over salmon from dinner. I prefer it cooked from frozen in my toaster oven - 320 degrees for 10 minutes, then sit in the oven for a minute - but can handle toasted when I’m out and that isn’t practical.
I’m okay with fancy-shmancy bagels with onions and capers if I’m out, but simple is best.
Plain bagel, lightly toasted with Philly and hot Mexican salsa
Simple and sublime
My standard breakfast (4+ days a week) is a half bagel with savory-flavored cream cheese and meat with whatever fresh fruit we have around. My wife stopped at Panera on Tuesday, brought back a dozen. Toasted a Cinnamon Crunch bagel Wednesday morning and spread a salted caramel cannoli filling on it. Wonderful!
So, in answer to the OP - if it’s a “make-your-own” party, a couple of flavored cream cheeses, lox, etc. If you’re spreading for them, then it’s whatever flavor profile you want to present. Some people are going to be picky with “this isn’t normal! I want cream cheese!”; others will appreciate a new flavor profile.
Whitefish spread is a tasty topping. Not vegetarian, but pescatarian.
How about offering a sweet option? A nice jam (or for me, marmalade) with butter, peanut butter or cream cheese is good.
Or a sweet cream cheese – cinnamon and brown sugar on a toasted bagel is nice. You could offer sliced fresh fruit – strawberries or bananas to put on top.
Other than lox/fish/toppings and the classic just plain butter, I sometimes make a hearty breakfast sandwich with them. Find a flat-bottomed bowl about the size of the bagel, quick hit of cooking oil spray, add a sprinkle of salt/pepper and any herbs (dried or fresh), pour-in a scrambled egg, then microwave for 90 seconds. Slice of your favorite cheese on the toasted bagel (in my case colby jack), then scoop the egg-let onto the bagel/cheese and cover with the other half of the bagel. BOOM! You can also add some spinach to the egg mix before cooking, or sauté some other veggies (onion, tomato, mushroom, etc.) and add that to the mix before mic-ing as well.
Bagels are just a form of bread, so any sandwich you’d regularly make should work pretty well.
For vegetarian options:
A slice of tomato with salt and some basil leaves. If vegetarian but not vegan, a nice slice of mozzarella cheese wouldn’t go amiss.
Make pretty flowers on a cream cheese base with sliced radishes and olives.
Can’t go wrong with mashed avocado and onion or garlic with lemon or lime, then decorated with sprigs of cilantro.
Hummus is a good starting point for a Greek theme, of course. Add toppings of feta, cucumber and olives.
Refried beans with cheese melted over and topped with chopped tomatoes, scallions and salsa.
Cream cheese with sliced strawberries and basil, or just push some fresh berries into it.
This should get you started. Go nuts! Literally! Peanut butter and bananas, peanut butter and grape jelly… you get the idea.
Speak of the devil! Today, I had one of my favs for lunch:
Slice pumpernickel bagel in half.
One layer of cheese on the bottom, either aged Swiss or pepper-jack.
One layer of Crazy Dave’s Devil’s Spit pickle chips.
A couple of folded slices of turkey breast.
A generous portion of mustard.
A top layer of cheese.
The top slice of bagel.
I heat it a little to make it soft and blend the flavors and, voila!
I’ve been on a taramasolata on halfway-toasted English muffin kick lately but a bagel is probably just as good. A little cheese toasted over the top for decadence.
Pumpkin Butter
Vanilla yogurt and peanut butter
Elsie’s in Harvard Square (long gone, I’m remembering the late 1970s/early 1980s) used to serve an absolutely magnificent bagel with cream cheese and caviar. Nothing super expensive, just the black stuff in the little glass jars you can buy at the supermarket. (Romanoff black lumpfish, if my quick Google is accurate.) That was one helluva delicious combination.