The Vegetarian

Breakfast Ideas

Sugar-free breakfast cereal

Congee

Pancakes

Scrambled Tofu

Sugar-Free Breakfast Cereal

This is a 50g serve.

So I have combined -

• 2 cups of puffed brown rice
• 1 cup of rice bran (made with rice and prune juice)
• 1 cup of puffed quinoa
• 1 cup of puffed amaranth
• 100g of dried fruit (currants, cranberries)

Other things you could consider adding to your cereal -

• seeds (pepitas,  sunflower seeds, linseed)
• nuts (macadamia, almond flakes)
• other cereals (quinoa flakes, oats, barley, cornflakes)
• other dried fruit (apple, raisins, sultanas, apricot)
• coconut

The best thing about making your own cereal is that you control the ingredients. You can put in your favourite ingredients, and leave out all the things you dislike! I don't like seeds, nuts or coconut in my cereal... as you can see.

I would eat this cereal with milk or soymilk, a spoonful of plain yoghurt, and a sliced up banana. Mmmmmm... yum!

Now I'm sure you're all wondering how many calories a serve of this will be! I'll break it down -

• 2 cups of puffed brown rice = 66g at 1610kj per 100g = 1062.6kj
• 1 cup of rice bran (made with rice and prune juice) = 170g at 1690kj per 100g= 2873kj
• 1 cup of puffed quinoa = 37g at 1475kj per 100g =545.75kj
• 1 cup of puffed amaranth =37g at 1553kj per 100g =574.61kj
• 100g of dried fruit (currants, cranberries) = 100g at 1221kj per 100g =1221kj

That's a total of 410g (8 serves) with a total of 6276.96kj which is 1530kj per 100g. And only 765kj per (50g) serve.

Most cereals have approximately the same number of kj per 50g -

special K = 775kj per 50g

Carman's fruit and nut muesli = 946kj per 50g

Weetbix multigrain = 800kj per 50g

Kelloggs Just Right =745kj per 50g

But the important thing about this home-made cereal is that it is nutrient dense and full of whole-grains. The only sugar is provided by the grains and the dried fruit. We have total control over the amount of sugar.

p.s. I used calorie king to figure out the kj for various cereals I don't have.

Congee

This is essentially a type of rice porridge originating in China. We have amended it in a few ways, of course making it vegetarian and also packing in the nutrition.

Ingredients

1/4 cup of long grain rice (Try different rice varieties)

1/4 cup of lentils (try different lentil varieties but begin with either mung or red lentils)

1 or 2 tablespoons of dry wakame seaweed

1 inch ginger (peeled and crushed)

+/- 1 small packet of firm tofu or silken tofu (cut into small cubes)

+/-vegetable stock

+/- other vegetables (e.g. cabbage, carrot, turnip)

1 tablespoon of miso paste

1 tablespoon of good quality soy sauce

If you have a congee setting on your rice-cooker, then measure according to your rice-cooker's instruction booklet. But otherwise use approximately double the water as the dry grains you are using.

Place the (prewashed) rice, lentils, ginger and wakame in a large pot and add twice as much water (500ml for this recipe). Bring to the boil and then lower to a simmer. Add the vegetable stock and other vegetables if you are using them. Place the lid on the pot and simmer for approximately 1 hour.

Check the pot occasionally, stir and add more water. If your lid is loose, letting a lot of steam escape, you may need to add much more water (try to add boiling hot water rather than cold tap water). If you are using your rice cooker, you probably won't need to add more water.

When the grains are nice and soft, stir in the miso and the soy sauce and tofu. The congee should be the consistency of a watery porridge.

You can serve it with herbs, chilli or ground seeds or nuts sprinkled over the top for added taste.

Scrambled Tofu

300g Soft or Silken Tofu- roughly chop 1/2 inch cubes

Handful of fresh parsley - chopped roughly

Salt & pepper

Handful of Cherry tomatoes - sliced in half

2 handfuls of Spinach leaves

250ml Vegetarian Stock (my favourite is Massel Chicken style)

1/2 teaspoon of olive oil

+/- 1/2 a Red or green Capsicum - sliced thinly

+/- 2 Fresh green Chillies - sliced thinly

+/- squeeze of lemon

+/- avocado to serve with

In a small nonstick pan simmer the tofu in the stock until the stock has been absorbed/evaporated. Place aside in a bowl.

In the same pan add some olive oil and stir-fry the sliced tomatoes, parsley and capsicum (+/- green chillies) until they start to soften.

Add the tofu back into the pan and continue to stir, mashing up the tofu so that it resembles scrambled egg (kind of).

Add the spinach, a half teaspoon of salt and a couple of pinches of pepper.

Continue to stir. Remove from heat as soon as the spinach starts to wilt and serve.

Consider serving with freshly toasted bread, a squeeze of lemon and some freshly sliced avocado.