Even though I crave carbs first thing in the morning — potato toast and congee are all on the menu — I’d like to find a way to incorporate more vegetables into my first meal of the day. However, it turns out that Morning Diet can actually be one of the simplest meals to incorporate vegetables into (given that you’re most likely preparing and eating it yourself).
Moreover, while the avocado toast is an obvious and delicious option, there are numerous other vegetables that deserve to be included in the morning meal. Here are five quick and easy ways to get your daily serving of vegetables in before you even leave the house!
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Other root vegetables, besides potatoes, should be included in your Morning Diet
While hash browns are one of my favorite breakfast foods, there are a variety of other flavorful root vegetables that can be baked, shredded, fried, or hashed in place of hash browns. Try root vegetables such as sweet potatoes, turnips, or even beets to get some extra vitamin boosts from these brightly colored vegetables.
Change your lunch salad or grain bowl to a breakfast salad or grain bowl.
For whatever reason, salads and grain bowls are not prohibited from being consumed for breakfast — particularly during warm months when your crisper drawer is overflowing with vegetables that need to be consumed. Soft-boiled or poached eggs can be served on top to make the dish more breakfast-like, and don’t forget that you can top scrambled eggs with vegetable mixtures such as chunky salsa to make it more lunch-like!
Opt out of the toast and serve your eggs with sautéed greens as a substitute.
It’s a wonderful feeling to begin a busy day knowing that you’ve already consumed a serving or two of greens, and the quickest and simplest way to do so is to simply sauté some greens and serve them with eggs. It’s up to you whether you cream them, simply cook them with garlic, or season them with bacon; however, if your greens are washed and ready to go, it will probably take the same amount of time as toasting bread. To make things even simpler, simply prepare a large batch of greens for dinner and eat the leftovers for breakfast the next morning.
Add vegetables to your pancake or waffle batter to make it more filling.
Do you have a go-to pancake or waffle batter that you enjoy using? As an alternative to blueberries, shred up vegetables and fold them right into the batter for filling savory pancakes. Furthermore, savory pancakes allow you to omit the maple syrup and instead serve them with yogurt for an extra protein boost if desired. Alternatively, sweet potatoes can be used to keep them sweet.
Served roasted or sautéed with bacon, sausage, eggs, hash browns, and other side dishes, as desired (the Substantial way)
Add a bunch of roasted or sautéed vegetables (and perhaps some sweet potato hash browns) to it, and it becomes even more delicious!!
Seriously, any type of meat + fried eggs + roasted vegetables have been my go-to breakfast combination for the past year, and I have no plans to change it up anytime in the future.
To go with your meat, eggs, and vegetables, why not have some toast or a muffin? Take a chance!
Your mid-morning snack cravings should be alleviated by eating this meal, which will keep you full until lunchtime.
Please keep in mind that in the morning, I simply reheat vegetables that I had roasted the day before (either in the microwave or in a frying pan) to use for lunch or dinner. They don’t taste mushy or overdone to me, and they aren’t overcooked either.
Leftovers from the night before (prepared in a “Strange” manner)
I realize that this may seem extremely strange, but I used to enjoy eating leftovers for breakfast even when I was in high school (pasta was my favorite leftover back then!).
If my fridge is getting a little too full, I’ll just eat a handful of leftovers for breakfast and call it a day.
This can include anything from roasted spaghetti squash to a casserole or soup to a hearty stew. It can also include things like leftover salmon and sweet potatoes. Whatever the case may be, there are almost always a variety of leftover vegetables that I eat with the other leftovers to make a very filling morning meal.
And yes, I am well aware that this is not considered “typical” breakfast fare — but our family regularly eats “breakfast for dinner,” so I don’t see why I shouldn’t be able to eat “dinner for breakfast” as well!
Conclusion
When you stop thinking about it, there’s really no reason we shouldn’t eat vegetables for breakfast, especially if we’re already eating them for lunch and dinner! Plus, there isn’t anything that is healthier than green veggies. You gotta have to eat them.