For several years now, I’ve kind of struggled with the most important meal of the day. If I’m going for a run, as I do most mornings, I need something I can bring with me to work, so a lot of typical hot breakfast things don’t work terribly well for that, especially if I’m packing it the night before. I also typically don’t want something especially heavy, which again, can be limiting. So when I found a breakfast-lunch specific book, I was hopeful. A lot of what’s in Healthy Vegan Breakfasts & Lunches is pretty basic, but it mostly looks like things that might work for me. The main caveat I’ve noticed (and the book is up front about this if you look carefully) is that when it presents as healthy and light, the recipe nutrition info does NOT include parts of some of the recipes, like recommended toppings for a smoothie bowl, or the frosting/glaze for cinnamon rolls. That feels a little like cheating, honestly.
That said, there a lot promising portable bake-ables like muffins, quick breads, pancakes, and waffles. Is vegan banana bread a new idea? Not at all, but adding oatmeal and a little cocoa swirl (not new either) might still be interesting enough. Likewise, the reminder about sweet potato “toast” was helpful. I’m not sure I’ve seen sweet potato waffle before, although I’ve certainly seen a sweet bread variant. While I don’t think a wrap by itself would be filling enough for lunch, the bento option for a chickpea ”meatball” Caesar salad does sound like a promising main for lunch., as long as it’s paired with one of the light soup or salad options.
Oats at breakfast and chickpeas for lunch seems to be the themes; I’m perfectly fine with both of those. There are a few things that don’t seem like they’d scale or save for another days very well (like a chips and trio of dips, and anything with ‘crispy’ in the name. Neither of these are massive problems, but they would still require adaptation or some assembly required at meal-time.
