Last week I wrote about the sorry story of how boxed cereals came to predominate morning choices for breakfast; this week I’m sharing some of my own breakfast choices. The first thing I am going to point out is that my breakfasts do not differ significantly from other meals I eat through the day. That is to say, I don’t keep a separate list of breakfast options from lunch and dinner options. While I would say that I probably eat less spicy stuff at breakfast time, it’s more of a suggestion than a hard-and-fast rule, as you will see.

A major category of breakfasts in my house is the leftovers I find in the refrigerator, with or without a little extra something. So it could be that I heat up a bowl of leftover stir-fried vegetables, and that might be enough by itself, but I might also add some leftover rice if there is any. Or maybe I will fry an egg and slide it on top, or melt a slice of cheese (vegan for me) on top. 

One of my favorite things to find in the fridge is leftover salmon, which I often sprinkle with a generous amount of Everything Bagel Spice Blend. I’ll pair that with vegetables of absolutely any kind. If I cannot find anything inspiring in the fridge, I might dice a tomato and cucumber to eat alongside the salmon. Tomatoes and cucumbers are staples in my house, and so there are almost always a few on the counter. The supply gets refreshed every week at the grocery store. A few drops of olive oil on the cucumber and tomato, and that’s my breakfast.

At other times, I might heat up a bowl of refried beans or lentil soup (unless I decide to put it in my bag for lunch!). I’ve been known to mix some leftover grilled tofu with a tomato & spaghetti squash dish. In the last few weeks, other veggies that I ate for breakfast included roasted asparagus, broiled tomatoes, grilled carrots, spicy broccoli, and braised cabbage. You just never know what you’ll find. This past week I made avocado toast with a slice of Simple Kneads bread. That’s a spicy one — I love sprinkling the avocado with hot paprika. Once in a while I cover my toast with a slice of Daiya vegan cheddar instead. Sometimes I cover it with peanut butter, usually without but occasionally with berry or fig jam. 

On occasion I scramble (or fry) a couple of eggs, and eat them with a cucumber/tomato salad. Once last week, my breakfast consisted of a pile of kohlrabi slices dipped in hummus. I keep a container of almond yogurt in the fridge, and on the rare occasions when I am in the mood, I’ll cover it with dried fruit, nuts, and raw honey from my friend Amalia.

I love eating leftover acorn, butternut, or delicata squash with tahini drizzled on top. If I feel like something sweet I’ll also drizzle it with silan, otherwise known as date honey. If I’m in a hurry I have been known to eat a banana with peanut butter. 

If I feel like eating a salad, one great way to make it more substantial is to toss with a freshly diced warm boiled (or microwaved) potato and a tablespoon of sunflower seeds, whether raw or roasted. Dress with olive oil, and there you have it.

How do I know if my breakfast is sufficiently nourishing? If I have been successful at refueling, my breakfast will hold me, more or less, until lunchtime.This is why I tend to eat a generous volume of food at breakfast time, especially on work days. There’s nothing worse than feeling like you’re starting to run out of gas at 10 am, when you still have a long way to go til you get a break.

When I feel like eating something super comforting I might make oatmeal, leftover brown rice — which I fry either alone or with an egg — or quinoa with vegetables and/or olive oil and/or nuts/seeds of any kind. I would be remiss if I didn’t include here my traditional favorite breakfast: sweet potato with peanut butter. Here’s how this goes: I run downstairs right when I wake up, put the sweet potato (covered) in the microwave for 5-6 min depending on size, and then go back upstairs to get ready. By the time I get back to the kitchen 20-30 minutes later, the sweet potato is perfectly soft, perfectly warm, and perfectly ready to be sliced open for a big spoonful of peanut butter. And a delicious cup of black coffee.

I hope you find some inspiring options among the many I’ve shared above. I encourage you to think about other options for breakfast than the ones supplied by the ultraprocessed “food” industry.