Vegan.
We all like easy, right?! So I want to share five easy vegan recipes to start your day.
In case you missed my announcement in December (you can read all about it here), for the month of January I have decided to eat a vegan diet.
Last January, I went on a vegetarian diet.
Overall, part of that month was spent eating a vegan diet (we revisited vegan for a time in April, which I talk about in Friday Faves Edition 61 and Edition 62-this one has a lunch recipe).
I learned some lessons during that month and shared them in this post about my month of being vegetarian.
One of which was
- Be Prepared.
Vegan Recipes.
Since one of the biggest questions that I had when going vegan was “what am I going to eat?”, I thought that I should heed the advice of that lesson.
One of the ways that I liked to be prepared is to a collection of recipes at the ready.
Pinterest is usually my go-to for that. I created a board called Vegan Life on my Pinterest Profile. If you are interested, you can find that board here.
I love curating things that I’m interested in on Pinterest. However, with the holidays being extra chaotic in the lead up to the new year, I haven’t had much time to sift through the recipes that I gathered. But, have no fear!
Five Easy Vegan Recipes To Start Your Day.
Since you might find yourself in the same situation as me and be asking yourself “what do I make for a vegan breakfast?”, I thought I’d share five easy vegan recipes to start your day.
I often hear it said that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. However, I don’t know if that’s really a fact, but I know that I don’t function well without food in the morning.
While my breakfast is a light start to the day on early Pilates mornings, I cannot work out on an empty stomach (Or too full. I’m like Goldilocks and need it just right).
I’ll let you in on a secret. Since that portion tends to be slightly s than I would typically eat, sometimes when I get home, I have a second breakfast. Scandalous, I know! (hint: it’s usually recipe #5).
My easy vegan recipes to start the day cover both sweet and savory, so take your pick!
Recipe #1. Chocolate, Almonds, and More Almonds Smoothie.
This recipe is actually from wayyyy back when I started this blog.
Day 10 in fact.
You can find my original post here.
However, I’ll share it again today.
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup ice
- 1/2-3/4 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
- 1 banana
- 1 Tbsp chia seeds
- 1 Tbsp flaxseed meal (or seeds, I happened to have meal)
- 1 Tbsp cacao powder
- 1 Tbsp almond butter
Directions:
Mix in a blender and serve.
You can tweak this to your preferred consistency and substitute the type of milk and nut butter.
I love smoothies for their “to-go” factor and that there can be so many creations. I shared other smoothie recipes during my monthly challenge where I made a “new to me” recipe every day for 30 days. If you’re thinking “phew”, you got that right!
If you are interested in seeing any of those, this post on lessons learned during that month along with some recipes and links to the other posts written that month containing recipes (I also gave my assessment of each recipe).
This smoothie recipe also works for both a vegetarian and a gluten-free diet.
Recipe #2. Peanut Butter, Fruit & Nuts Toast.
This one is pretty self-explanatory.
Ingredients:
- 2 slices of bread, toasted (I used sourdough. Be sure to read the ingredient label. We had a different loaf of sourdough that listed milk as an ingredient).
- 2 Tbsp of peanut butter (approximately, while I have measured this in the past when I used to do strict diets, I haven’t done that type of dieting in many, many years and just spread the peanut butter to my preference of thickness).
- 1/2 banana
- 3-4 fresh strawberries
- 1 Tbsp chopped walnuts
- 1 Tbsp chopped pecans
Directions:
Spread the peanut butter on the toast. Next, slice banana and fresh strawberries and place on the toast. And lastly, place nuts on the slice of toast.
Mix and match as you wish.
Any nut butters can be substituted for the peanut butter.
This recipe also works for a vegetarian diet and, with a substitute, could work for a gluten-free diet as well.
Recipe #3. Avocado Toast With Flaxseed and Chia Seed.
Obviously, one of the things about easy vegan recipes to start your day is that they are easy! Which usually means simple ingredients and self-explanatory recipe names.
Ingredients:
- Slice of toast (I use Ezekiel bread, which is made from sprouted grains).
- 1/2 avocado
- 1/4 tsp flaxseeds
- 1/4 tsp chia seeds
Directions:
Smash and spread 1/2 an avocado on the slice of toast.
Top with flaxseeds and chia seeds.
This recipe also works for a vegetarian diet and, with a bread substitute, could work for a gluten-free diet as well.
Recipe #4. Strawberry and Nut Oatmeal.
Craving something warm and comforting?
Ingredients:
- 1 serving of oatmeal (this is often 1/2 cup dry oats cooked in a cup of water)
- 4-5 fresh strawberries
- 2 Tbsp chopped pecans
- 2 Tbsp chopped walnuts
- 1 tsp brown sugar (optional)
Directions:
Cook oatmeal as directed on your package. Add sliced strawberries and nuts. I don’t personally use the brown sugar, but my husband finds oatmeal to be a bit too bland.
Mmm… don’t you feel all cozy now?!
This recipe also works for both a vegetarian and a gluten-free diet (note: oats can be cross-contaminated. If you are strictly gluten-free, be sure to choose oats that state gluten-free).
Recipe #5. Spinach and Mushroom Hash Browns.
Did you peek ahead to check out what was #5 of the easy vegan recipes start your day? I don’t blame you! And it is sooo good!
Ingredients: (serves 2)
- 1 cup fresh mushrooms
- 2 large handfuls of spinach
- 10 oz. frozen hash browns
- EVOO (extra-virgin olive oil) for cooking
Directions:
Warm up the pan. (I use a cast iron skillet). Then pour in enough olive oil to sauté the spinach and mushrooms. (I use a first cold-pressed extra-virgin olive oil so that it has a higher smoke point). Then add the mushrooms and spinach.
Spinach cooks down into a much smaller amount than it appears when you add it to the pan. You could pre-chop the mushrooms to your preferred size, but I just chop them with my spatula as I’m cooking the vegetables.
Once the mushrooms are softened to your preference and the spinach cooked, remove them from the pan and set aside. After that, cook your hash browns according to the package, which will require more olive oil. When the hash browns are close to being done, add in the spinach and mushrooms and cook until complete.
Serve and enjoy!!
This recipe also works for both a vegetarian and a gluten-free diet (be sure to check the hash brown packaging to make sure they don’t have a flour coating). For extra protein when I am eating a vegetarian and/or gluten-free diet, I usually add a scrambled egg into the mix.
Breakfast Complete.
Most of the recipes are quite versatile and easy substitutions abound. Almond butter is usually my nut butter of choice. I used peanut butter (yes, I know that it’s really a legume) because we had an overabundance from making cookies around the holidays.
That’s also why I have pecans and walnuts to add to my daily food consumption.
Nutritional Benefits
Many of the things I add also bump up the nutritional benefits of the recipe.
Chia seeds are a good source of fiber and calcium. Also, they are a complete protein. In addition, they are the richest plant source for omega-3 fatty acid. And this is all straight out of the mouth of Harvard and you can read about it in this article.
Similarly, flaxseeds are also high in fiber and omega-3s. However, I’ve recently learned that it is recommended that you grind them because you may not get all the nutrients otherwise.
Of course, we know that walnuts are high in omega-3s as well. Also, most nuts have an impressive amount of health benefits.
Start Your Day!
There you have it!
Five easy vegan recipes to start your day.
I hope that you found something tasty.
Which recipe was your favorite?
Do you have any other easy vegan recipes to start your day that you’d like to add?
Let me know some of your other favorite easy go-to breakfast recipes!
Let your light shine!
Amy