VEGGIES BREAKFAST
WILLI GALLOWAY
100 DELICIOUS PLANTFOCUSED RECIPES for Healthier Mornings
Veggies for Breakfast
VEGGIES BREAKFAST for
100 DELICIOUS PLANT-FOCUSED for Healthier Mornings RECIPES
WILLI GALLOWAY
Photography by Jim Henkens
To Grady and Jonathan, my favorite people to cook for.
Introduction 1
Breakfast Strategies for Busy People 3
Pantry Essentials 9
Key Kitchen Equipment 12
Garlicky Toast 19
Rise and Shine Salad 81 ONE TOAST 17 TWO BOWLS AND SALADS 47
Simple Avocado Toast 22
Avocado Toast with Crispy Salt-and-Pepper Chickpeas 23
Edamame-Avocado Mash on Garlic Toast with Crunchy Radish 26
Avocado Toast with Feta and Dukkah 26
Summery Strawberry Toast with Chèvre, Cucumber, and Avocado 30
Tarragon and Thyme Mushroom Toasts 32
Mixed Berry Toast with Raspberry-Beet Almond Butter 35
Smashed and Slivered Pea Toasts 37
Ultimate Tomato Toast 39
Mix and Match Ricotta Toasts 42
Mix and Match Savory Oatmeal Bowls 50
Cacio e Pepe Oatmeal 52
Ginger-Miso Oatmeal 53
Smoky Tomato Savory Oatmeal 54
Sheet Pan Mediterranean Veggie Bowl with Herbed Labneh 57
Harlow Breakfast Burrito Bowl 61
Deconstructed Lox Bagel Bowl 64
Make-Ahead White Bean and Kale Breakfast Bowl 67
Cottage Cheese Crunch Bowl 69
Turkish-ish Eggs 71
Lemony Breakfast Grain Bowl with Greens and Feta 72
Spring Couscous Bowl with Herby Whipped Feta 75
Ranch-Style Chop Salad with Cornbread Croutons 77
THREE SKILLETS, HASHES + EGG BAKES 83
Chile Verde Baked Eggs 85
Rajas con Crema Breakfast Enchiladas 89
Shakshuka with Seared Halloumi 91
Spring Green Sheet Pan Frittata with Asparagus, Potato, and Dill 95
Curried Tomato with Paneer and Eggs 97
Sheet Pan Sweet Potato, Kale, and Smoked Salmon Hash with Lemon Crème Fraîche 98
Summer Vegetable Skillet with Halloumi Croutons 101
Mix and Match Spinach Egg Bites 104
FOUR SANDWICHES, WRAPS, TACOS + BURRITOS 107
Folded Breakfast Wraps 109
Tater Tot Breakfast Burritos 115
Curried Potato Breakfast Burritos 117
Hippie Breakfast Bagel 120
Burrata and Cherry Tomato Ciabatta Sandwich 123
Herby Chèvre and Asparagus on Ciabatta 124
Sheet Pan Fall Vegetable Breakfast Sandwiches on Brioche 126
Omelet Tacos 129
FIVE A SWEET START 133
Peaches and Cream Smoothie 137
Tropical Green Smoothie 137
Raspberry Beet Coconut Smoothie 138
Berry Good Spinach Smoothie 138
Pumpkin Pie Smoothie 139
Sneaky Spinach and Blueberry Overnight Oats 142
Carrot Cake Overnight Oats with Pepita Crunch 143
Pumpkin Spice Overnight Oats 145
Raspberry-Beet Swirl Overnight Oats 146
Morning Glory Baked Oatmeal 147
Sweet Treat Breakfast Sweet Potato with Honey-Spiced Yogurt 151
Whole Wheat Honey Breakfast Loaf 153
Cinnamon-Orange Sweet Potato Waffles 155
SIMPLE SIDES 157
Egg Basics 157
Versatile Make-Ahead Vegetables 163
Beans + Legumes 170
Grains 173
TASTY EXTRAS 177
Sauces + Spreads 177
Vinaigrettes + Dressings 189
Crunchy Toppers, Sprinkles + Dollops 194
Easy Meal Plan 200
Acknowledgments 203
Pantry Sources 205
Index 207
INTRODUCTION
I love vegetables.
Growing, cooking, and eating vegetables happily take up a large part of my life. Being a vegetable gardener naturally translates into being a vegetable lover. But a few years ago, I found that the morning crunch time of getting ready for my day did not lend itself to preparing vegetables for breakfast, even though I had a garden full of vegetables right outside my kitchen door. More and more I found myself making the exact same thing every single morning: toast and an egg. I ate this meal semi- religiously not because it’s my favorite thing to eat when I wake up or because it made me feel amazing. No, this was my go-to breakfast because it was easy.
Once I understood that convenience often outweighed nutrition at our breakfast table, I realized that I needed to make a road map for eating more vegetables at breakfast—both on busy weekday mornings and on weekends when I have more time. Like most parts of being a grown-up, it turns out that having a plan makes life easier. The strategy I landed on is pretty straightforward: I plan out what I want to eat for the week, then I set aside time on the weekend to pre- chop some vegetables so that they are ready to grab and go. I cook a batch of versatile vegetables that can be used in a variety of recipes, and when in doubt, I make avocado toast.
Veggies for Breakfast grew out of my own kitchen and a desire to eat a more plant-forward diet all day. To address the biggest hang- up facing most breakfast cooks—time— many of the recipes feature makeahead components that can be assembled and reheated quickly in the morning to help take the stress out of cooking breakfast. Additionally, the recipes are intentionally flexible. Many offer lots of options that give you permission to riff on the ingredients and take advantage of seasonal vegetables or what you have on hand.
I want this book to encourage you to use what you have in your fridge or garden, learn to think about using leftovers at breakfast, and familiarize yourself with suitable substitutions for when you are cooking on the fly. To help give you the confidence to start mixing and matching, you’ll find lots of flexible recipes that work well in a variety of situations. And whenever a recipe has a component that can be prepared in advance, you’ll see a Make- Ahead Mornings note with prep instructions. The adaptable recipes were also developed to give you the confidence to add, subtract, or swap out ingredients so a particular dish meets your dietary preferences. Follow a gluten-free diet? Swap in an almond flour tortilla for a regular flour one. Don’t eat dairy? Skip the cheese garnish, or substitute a non- dairy alternative. The adjustable, versatile nature of the recipes makes it simple for you to use the vegetables you have on hand to create delicious, nutritious, veggie-filled breakfasts that meet the needs of yourself and the people you love to cook for.
BREAKFAST STRATEGIES FOR BUSY PEOPLE
What’s for breakfast?
The answer to that question is much simpler when you have a plan and a fridge stocked with vegetables that are ready to cook, or even better, ready to eat. Here are some meal prep strategies that streamline making healthier breakfasts (and lunches and dinners too!).
Keep Ready-to-Reheat Vegetables on Hand
On Sunday, do your future self a favor and make at least one batch of vegetables ahead of time. Nothing makes you feel like you are winning at your week more than opening the fridge and finding a container of nutrient- packed veggies ready to stuff into a breakfast wrap or use as a topping on toast and bowls. So, what should you make? Consider blanching a couple bunches of hearty greens (page 163). Roast a batch of Sheet Pan Mediterranean Vegetables (page 169) or prepare a Summer Vegetable Skillet with Halloumi Croutons (page 101). Roasted Cherry Tomatoes (page 165) are magical little flavor bombs wherever you toss them in, while Whole Roasted Sweet Potatoes (page 166) adapt to both sweet and savory recipes—you can slip them seamlessly into breakfast wraps, waffles, and even smoothies!
Cook a Grain Ahead of Time
The beauty of pre- cooking a batch of grain (or pasta in the case of pearl couscous) is that you have a base for bowls or a filler for wraps ready to reheat and serve. I also stock up on frozen brown rice at the grocery store because it makes a quick , nutritious filler for bowls and salads.
• Savory Steel- Cut Oats (page 49)
• Quinoa (page 62)
• Lemon Spinach Bulgur (page 73)
• Lemon Pepper Couscous (page 76)
Pre- Cook Some Hard-Boiled Eggs
Hard- boiled eggs are a quick source of protein, taste good cold, and can be added on the side to toasts, salads, and bowls. Follow the Perfect Boiled Egg directions on page 158 for a 9- minute egg. Cool the eggs completely in an ice water bath. Dry off the shells and write an H on them with a colored crayon so you can differentiate the cooked eggs from the uncooked ones. Refrigerate the boiled eggs, unpeeled, for up to one week.
Turn Your Fridge into a Salad Bar
The idea of salad for breakfast might elicit groans from some in your household, but eating a big bowl of greens to start the day puts you ahead of the game on getting all your fruits and veggies in by bedtime. Creating a grab- and- go salad bar situation in your fridge is the key to actually eating some salad for breakfast. Get inspired by my favorite Rise and Shine Salad (page 81), and then start customizing your own salads to suit your preferences.
Prevent Wilted Greens
Damp, damaged salad green leaves turn slimy quickly. Prevent this problem by taking two quick extra steps before putting that bag or box of pre-washed greens in the crisper drawer: First slide a paper towel