The Ultimate Vegan Breakfast Book: 80 Mouthwatering Plant-Based Recipes You’ll Want to Wake Up For
by Nadine Horn and Jörg Mayer
Each morning, I eat and enjoy breakfast, but I have a limited stable of alternatives–cereal, toast, maybe pancakes on a special day. To expand my repertoire, I was excited to read The Ultimate Vegan Breakfast Book, although I was a little skeptical. How could breakfasts fill an entire book? Wouldn’t there be a lot of repetition? I was delightfully surprised to have my expectations falsified.
Nadine Horn and Jörg Mayer, authors of The Ultimate Vegan Breakfast Book write Eat This!, the leading vegan food blog in Germany. Overall, the book is beautifully designed with lovely photographs, many of them taken from above the dishes which is something I don’t remember seeing in many cookbooks but which offered an enticing view of the dishes. The recipes themselves are easy to follow with clear instructions, and it’s surprising that this is a translation from German, the English is so seamless. Most of the ingredients are straightforward and easily accessible, though I was also introduced to maca powder and kala namak (black salt). Interestingly, the authors have opted not to include nutritional information due to problems in the methodology of calculating calories. Instead, the recipes are labeled as “light,” “balanced,” or “comfort food.” If relevant, the dishes are tagged as sugar, oil, and/or soy free, and tips provide helpful alternative ingredients or serving options.
Like most cookbooks, this one has introductory pages with pantry staples and equipment suggestions. Personally, I don’t drink tea or coffee, so those sections weren’t relevant to me, but the authors also had information on nuts, berries, and seeds, focusing on those with high nutritional value. I learned that raspberries are one of the oldest cultivated fruits in Europe. The authors explain that their recipes utilize quinoa, spelt and rye, oats, millet, and black rice. In the Tips and Tricks section, they include interesting information about breakfast traditions around the world.
I found so many recipes in this book I wanted to try! The smoothies look so colorful and delicious, they are all appealing. The “Buttermilk” Shake with Orange and Almonds look especially good to me and uses only three ingredients! In the Breakfast to Go section, I want to make nearly every dish. I am eager to try the “Egg Salad” Sandwich and the Stuffed Parthas, a traditional breakfast in North India. One-Bowl-Wonders includes porridges, yes, even a chocolate-based one! There are also smoothie bowls which are interesting if not to my taste. Of course the Sweeter Side of Mornings appeals to me, with the Glazed Donuts taking center stage. The Weekend Brunch section offers the intriguing dishes Breakfast Frittata, Hash Brown BLTs, and Pesto Bread. A final section on Pantry staples provides instructions for rolls and bread, both sweet (e.g. hazelnut) and savory (e.g. Cashew Cheese) spreads, and “meat.”
With The Ultimate Vegan Breakfast Book, I can rescue myself from my breakfast doldrums! I think it’s a great addition to any kitchen cookbook shelf but definitely something vegans should check out, especially if you are like me an in a rut with breakfast food.
Thank you to Netgally and The Experiment, LLC for providing an advance reading copy in exchange for an honest review.
...aka darzy... 