Five (No Egg) Breakfast Ideas
Including a berry muffin recipe that's completely allergy friendly.
As a private chef, I grocery shop a lot. So I notice even slight price changes, especially for staples like eggs. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the price of a cool dozen spiked 8.9% in December (stale news), but wholesale prices continue to climb. The USDA cites the recent snowpocalypse and increased demand. Industry groups and some economists blame a resurgence of avian flu (I’m digging into it).
The Story
So whether you get annoyed with vacillating prices, find the carton empty, or are a proud vegan, the breakfasts below are all sans œufs and include whole grains, fresh fruit, bright flavors, and no added sugar. Best of all, they’re versatile and four are quick enough for a busy weekday morning.
You’ll find a few of the fresh ingredients in more than one breakfast, and this is by design. Bake the muffins and mix the muesli on Sunday, and enjoy an original breakfast every morning of the work or school week. The amounts listed for the oatmeal and muesli serve at least two, or one ravenous teenage boy.
Fun Alarm Clock Tunes: “Rise Up” by Andra Day (Chef’s pick), “Little Boo Thang” by Paul Russell (kid pick), “Good Morning” from “Singin’ in the Rain”, “Walking on Sunshine” by Katrina and The Waves.
Overnight Açaí Oatmeal
I don’t subscribe to the idea of “superfoods” but açaí is tangy yet earthy and adds antioxidants to your diet like any other berry. It’s a fun one to keep in rotation. You can purée frozen açaí or keep the powder in the fridge (I find the latter a better form for impromptu concocting). The rest of the ingredients are meant to be pantry staples. Spice it up with what you have on hand and what you like.
Buying. You can find frozen açaí purée and it might be blended with other fruit. Check the ingredient list for anything you might not want or expect. I find açaí powder more easily and store it chilled to prolong freshness.
2 cups of old-fashioned oats
About 2 tablespoons of ground flax
¼ cup of açaí purée or 2 tablespoons of açaí powder
Pinch of flake or kosher salt
1½ cups of water, whole milk, or alternative
1 ripe banana, sliced
Fresh seasonal fruit such as blueberries, sliced kiwi, or clementine segments
Pecan halves or sliced almonds
Drizzle of honey or maple syrup, optional
To prepare, combine the oats, flax, açaí powder or purée, salt, and water or milk in a mixing bowl, then stir to combine, cover, and place in the refrigerator overnight. Thaw the purée beforehand, or add the pieces in frozen (they’ll thaw a bit as it all sits). The next morning simply warm it in the microwave or on the stove and top the oats with sliced fruit and chopped nuts, if you like. Add more water or milk, if neccessary. If the consistency is too thin, a quick simmer over medium heat will burn off extra liquid.
Trail Mix Muesli
A nutrient-dense alternative to American cereal. Muesli is a version of granola born in Switzerland. Crunchy, lower in sugar, and versatile, it is easy and more affordable to make at home than to buy. Shop in your pantry for dried fruit, nuts, and oats, and you’re more than halfway to breakfast. Spoon a generous helping over yogurt, or splash in your favorite milk. Lightly toast the oats, coconut, and nuts if you feel like it. It is lovely warm which allows the chocolate chips to melt, and kids think it a real treat to eat chocolate at breakfast.
No need to measure exactly, mix the ingredients in amounts you think you’ll enjoy. In traditional muesli fashion, aim for around 50% oats in the mix.
2 cups of old-fashioned rolled oats
½ cup of coconut flakes, unsweetened, chopped if large
½ cup of toasted peanut halves (or any nuts)
½ cup of dried fruit
½ cup of pumpkin seeds
A few small handfuls of dark chocolate chips, optional
2 tablespoons of chia seeds, optional
1 ripe banana, sliced
Milk or yogurt
To toast, combine the oats, coconut, any raw nuts (peanuts are mostly sold roasted already), and pumpkin seeds, and spead out in one layer on a baking pan. Bake at 350° F (180° C) for five to ten minutes, just until lightly browned. Cool, and proceed.
To prepare, mix all the ingredients but the banana together in an airtight storage container (if you add chia seeds, store it chilled). Serve with milk like cereal, over yogurt, and top with banana slices. If you prefer soft muesli, soak a cup overnight in milk.
Smoked Salmon Toast
This breakfast is one of my favorites and lightning-fast to make. It sticks to the ribs and offers omega-3s from the salmon. Restaurants charge a pretty penny for lox and bagel on a brunch menu. Enjoying it at home is a bit more affordable. I tend to make a batch of quick-pickled vegetables every month, and this is a great way to enjoy the fruits of your labor. Mascarpone is a creamier form of spreadable fresh cheese than American cream cheese (the latter of which often contains added salt, emulsifiers, and preservatives).
Buying. Choose wild-caught smoked salmon or lox (cured, but not smoked salmon) if your means allow. Then look for whole grain bread or bagels where the dietary fiber is no less than one-fifth of the total carbohydrate. If the total carbs for one serving is 20 grams, the dietary fiber should be no less than 4 grams.
Whole grain or nut-based bread or whole grain, seedy bagel
Mascarpone
Sliced smoked or cured wild salmon
Capers, pickled vegetables (traditionally red onions), or mixed salad greens (such as mesclun)
Sliced green onions or chives, optional
To prepare, toast the bread and spread on a thin layer of mascarpone to each slice, top with a layer of salmon, a few pickled onions, capers, or even mixed salad greens. Sprinkle with sliced scallions or chives.
Tropical Greek Yogurt Parfait
A traditional French parfait is a frozen dessert of whipped eggs and cream. In America, this French delicacy (whose name means “perfect”) has been downgraded to a layered nosh of yogurt and fruit, grain, and nut toppings. C’est la vie!
An Americanized parfait (however painful for the French), can be a filling, speedy breakfast. I recommend spooning in as many nuts and fresh fruit as you can, or a nice helping of the muesli from above. For an Instafamous parfait, you can layer the ingredients in a jar or taller glass. Otherwise, save your precious time and spoon it all into a bowl.
Buying. This particular yogurt parfait highlights the winter season, with a few tropical fruits in season now. If chopping isn’t your thing, lean on the store for help. But make sure you’re comfortable with the integrity of the store’s kitchen. Or choose canned pineapple without added sugar.
About ¾ cup of unsweetened, whole-milk Greek yogurt (or your favorite vegan alternative)
1 kiwi, peeled and sliced
Pineapple chunks
2 tablespoons of chopped macadamia or other nuts
Pinch of chia seeds
Low-sugar granola or homemade muesli, optional
Honey or maple syrup, optional
Oat & Buckwheat Berry Muffins
Rich with fiber and fruit, this original recipe calls for oat and buckwheat flour and is highly adaptable to substitutions (I baked eight batches to be sure). I recommend enjoying the muffins slightly warmed and spread with butter.
Edible Epilogue
In researching Blue Zone regions for a culinary medicine lab I taught last fall, I came across a Dutch breakfast, hagelslag. Translation: chocolate sprinkles. Yes, Dutch children sometimes eat toast smothered in butter and chocolate sprinkles. It’s a plate of nosh a kid as young as three can pull together themselves (encouraging independence which breeds happiness, apparently).
While the childhood obesity rates in The Netherlands are steadily increasing like other rich nations, theirs was about half of ours in 2020 (report from UNICEF).
Truly, chocolate sprinkles first thing in the morning are no different than sugary breakfast cereal.
The difference, it appears, between us and the Dutch is total consumption. Their little ones enjoy a sugar-coated breakfast on occasional Sunday mornings. Ours are served an equivalent every weekday at school.
Eat breakfast + be well,
Christina