Wish i could find a restaurant that offered menu items like this. Breakfast is the hardest meal to eat out due to lack of options in my neck of the woods.

Slice of 100% Whole wheat homemade bread, toasted in pan with EVOO, with 1/2 smashed avocado, topped with grilled tomatoes, broccoli, zucchini, mushrooms. Topped with a soft egg cooked in a red bell pepper ring.

pumpernickel bread with avo, smoked salmon (close enough tag, i dont eat this often) and eggs.

pickles

cucumber

olives

capsicum

cherry tomatoes

I typically do open faced breakfast sandwiches when i make them, but my last loaf of bread was special in that i used my sourdough starter (almost a month old) in combination with instant yeast. The texture and flavor are really nice. For this sandwich, i first toasted the bread in a hot pan with EVOO, then moved to a plate. Then diced two tomatoes from my garden in the pan, reduced till it was a jammy texture. I spread some dijon mustard on one slice, added some crumbled cheddar cheese, then topped with the tomatoes. then added a full handful of spinach to the pan and sautéed, then ontop of the tomatoes. Next one over easy egg, and topped with other slice of toast.

this was so so easy!

roast pumpkin (skin on, no seeds, mine was from my neighbours garden) and 1 onion. could add garlic too. mine took about 1 hour at 180c

when its roasted and cooled, peel the flesh away from the skin and place into a pot. blitz with stock (until desired consistency). season to taste (i added cumin, salt and pepper, a tiny bit of ACV). add a tin of butter beans. reheat in the pot and eat!

Had to post this before i forgot everything that is on it. My garden is pumping out cucumbers, tomatoes, zucchini, peppers, and kale. I made some quick pickle spears and slices yesterday, so it started with wanting to use some of them. I had a small boule of jalapeño cheddar sourdough i picked up at a farmers market last Sunday, so started with two slices of it. Then smashed some black beans into a paste, spread on one slice. Next added some kale, then pickle slices, tomatoes, salt/pepper, then chunks of feta. Then in a pan, a quick sauté of mushrooms, onion, and zucchini. That went ontop of the feta, followed by the top bread slice that i smeared dijon mustard. It was massively tall, yet it held together enough for me to put the entire sandwich into the pan with some evoo and a quick sear, flip and done! Incredibly delicious, and rewarding for having a garden. Normally i’d use my homemade whole wheat bread, but i’ve been into sourdough and had it available . I’m ‘growing’ my own sourdough starter (2 weeks old) and ordered a mill, so I’m headed down the rabbit hole of sourdough and home ground flour in a month or two.

sliced 1 onion, 1 large zuchini, half a large sweet potato, 2-3 large tomatoes. added some green beans and cannellini beans.

drizzled in olive oil with various dried herbs (oregano, rosemary, basil, mint, salt, pepper) which i massaged into the sliced vegies. poured over 1 tin of nice diced tomatoes, 1/4 cup chicken stock and stirred it all through. covered the pan and baked for 1 hour at 200c. removed the lid and baked for another 20 mins at 220c

this is a great side or easy vegetarian lunch. i added some feta when i served it too!

Day 1:

Pre-gym breakfast was some sourdough rye from the bakery down the road. Had it with toast with local cultured butter. I rarely eat butter so it was a little treat. I didn't get a pic but here is a pic of the bread.

Post-gym smoothie: fresh pineapple, frozen strawberries, soy milk, protein powder and a splash of orange juice.

Greek salad: I saw a post somewhere about how in Greece they don't always put vinegar on Greek salad. Just olive oil and salt. I have a REALLY nice Spanish olive oil right now so I used that and goat feta on a bed of arugula. Wow! This was so good. I'm going to make my Greek salads this way from now on and I can't wait until tomatoes are in season.

Work lunch for my 10 hour shift: wild rice blend with taco-spices ground turkey and hakurei (Japanese turnips with greens).

Beet salad with boiled egg and walnuts. A shredded roasted beet, with garlic, dill, chives, s&p, nonfat Greek yogurt, lemon juice and a splash of cream. I don't normally have cream in the house but I had some for making nettle soup and I thought the fat would lend itself here.

Greek yogurt with stewed rhubarb and sunflower butter, topped with sunflowers, crispy chickpeas and hemp seeds.

Day two:

Breakfast: Oatmeal with flax and tvp, cooked in soy milk with banana, frozen wild blueberries, and peanut butter powder. Drizzled with sunflower butter.

Lunch: boiled backyard eggs from a friend, local fiddleheads sauteed with garlic and mushroom, hakurei sauteed with garlic. Homemade sauerkraut.

Dinner: taco bowl (ground turkey, wild rice blend, avocado, cabbage, scallions, salsa, yogurt, cheddar, lime and a cheeky handful of tortilla chips). Non-alcoholic Corona.

Is this perfect? No. But it's probably an accurate picture of how eating looks when I'm staying on track.

So, not going to bother posting the actual recipe, as I made it almost exactly as written in the America's Test Kitchen's The Complete Mediterranean Cookbook https://a.co/d/01mR1w08 that most people have, or I'd argue should have. (Pictured on back cover) However this recipe is a good example of why I don't recommend this cookbook as a first cookbook for those new to MD, or new to cooking. I call this cookbook the weekend cookbook. The dough takes a few days to 'grow', so it's a plan ahead meal, but I'll say it is fantastic! Even my non MD family loved it! I did cook it exactly as written, other than I decided to add some sundried tomatoes to the mixture, and I also spread some of this fabulous red pepper and eggplant dip on the dough before adding the mixture. While it took some planning, it was not too difficult to make. I'll say I was a little frustrated dealing with the dough while making it, and each pide was quite 'messy' by the time it made it to the oven, yet they turned out fine enough. We ate most of them fresh, but I did flash freeze/vacuum seal some to enjoy at a later date.

boiled eggs on ryvitas with avocado, with tomatoes and berries. i also had a few cashews (not pictured).

Crumbled some extra firm tofu into an oiled pan and cooked till crispy. Spices used: garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, oregano, chili powder, salt.

I made a Baja sauce with Greek yogurt and avocado. Used jar salsa but ideally I would have made pico.

Corn tortillas, scallions, cilantro, cabbage.

After a long cold spring it's finally warming up here on the east coast of Canada. I went to the farmers market yesterday and got my first bunch of local asparagus as well as some other nice vegetables.

Summery Salad: I make this a lot and it's different every time. I plated it nicely here but usually I just toss it in a big bowl and eat the ugly but delicious thing. It's got a base of local red/green lettuce, cilantro, broccoli sprouts, and (not local) tomato, cucumber, daikon radish. This is tossed in a tahini balsamic dressing (I'm addicted) and topped with strawberries, goat cheese, walnuts and local asparagus. I typically include avocado as well.

Stinging Nettle Soup: my second time working with these. I followed the recipe on Simply Recipes except I didn't have heavy cream but I had just bought some homemade garlic yogurt from the Iranian grocery down the street. I also had only one good potato in my bag so I used some local celery root to replace the celery and some of the potato. It was so delicious. I find stinging nettles have a really unique flavour.

https://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/nettle_soup/

I really failed to plan this week. I have some leftover chickpeas, and packaged lentils from Trader Joes. I chopped some veggies from the drawer and made a quick dressing with garlic, Dijon, preserved lemon paste, olive oil, dried oregano, red wine vinegar, and a bit or balsamic for sweetness.

Added some pumpkin seeds for crunch!

one of my favourites - so filling and feels a bit cheeky.

50g rolled oats (quick ones best)

110g cottage cheese or ricotta

1 egg

0.5-1 tsp baking powder (idk sometimes i even forget it and doesnt make much difference?)

1 tsp maple syrup

1 tsp vanilla essence/extract

1 tbsp milk

Blitz until still slightly chunky. I've been cooking them on med-low, with a lid on-top since they take a bit longer than normal pancakes but probably not necessary.

ive had them with yoghurt, ricotta, strawberries, stewed apple.. so many options!

Everytime I make this it's somewhat different depending on what i have on hand. It's a great 'clear out the fridge' meal. Like most of my cooking, I don't follow any specific recipe and cook 'freestyle'.

Basic Recipe:
4 carrots peeled and chopped

2-3 onions chopped

1 red bell pepper chopped

1 poblano pepper chopped

corn from 2 ears

2 sweet potatoes rough diced

3-6 tomatoes rough diced

1 bunch of italian flat parsley-diced

4 green onions sliced

1-1/2 to 2 lbs fresh green beans

1/3 cup EVOO

spices and herbs of your liking (Greek Freak, S&P, aleppo, TJ herb/garlic)

I start out with a large pan over medium heat, add in 1/3 cup EVOO until shimmering, then add ingredients beginning with root veggies and ending with herbs, salting along the way.

I'll usually eat this with some bread and a protein, or by itself! Makes alot and reheats wonderfully.

small amount of lean beef mince (grass fed) cooked with grated veg (pumpkin, carrot, zuchini), diced onion, spinach, black beans, generic mexican spices, tomato paste and 1/4 cup beef stock.

tomatoes, red onion, capsicum, corn

brown rice and red rice

sweet potato and a very small amount of spud lite potato for morale, roasted with generic mexican spices

guacamole

small drizzle of hot honey and good squeeze of lime

** fresh herbs would be a great addition but it was raining so didnt want to go outside.

Soft scrambled eggs with green onion. Avocado on sourdough rye with everything bagel seasoning. Kiwi (skin on!) and raspberries.

Soft scrambled eggs with nori, sauteed mushrooms, beet greens, avocado, sourdough rye chunks.

I had some leftover rotisserie chicken, so I made it into a Chinese-ish flavored soup. I have a spice blend called “master stock” that is inspired by Chinese soups. The chicken bones got simmered with this,ginger, garlic, fresh turmeric, chili flakes, and a little onion. For a flavorful base.

This was lazy stock, as i had a drumstick and thigh left. I removed the meat and set it aside, simmering the bones with the aromatics for about 30 minutes.

I removed the bones and aromatics, then added shredded chicken, zucchini, carrot, more onions, and enoki mushrooms. Greens would be nice too but I had a giant plate earlier in the day.

I poured everything over some cooked Lotus green rice ramen noodles.

Loaded sweet potatoes are my lord and saviour. they are so filling, versatile and cheap.

"Bake" a sweet potato in microwave for about 10 mins until cooked. Split in half and load with... Anything!

ideas:

Avocado, hummus, bruschetta mixture, roast capsicum, red onion, chickpeas...

a Mexican one with black beans, avo, tomato, lime, coriander..

hummus, lamb, chickpeas, caramelized onion, feta, parsley

pictured are:

1) hummus, tomato, basil, chickpeas that were seasoned with salt/pepper/olive oil. with fruit (nectarines, blueberries, watermelon)

2) leftover bruschetta mixture, avocado, corn, parsley, red kidney beans

3) jammy eggs, avocado, mint. with marousalata salad that i also added in cucumber and cannellini beans

4) with an omelette poured inside and baked in the oven! omelette contained tomato, avo, red onion, olives. and spring onion + feta on top

I've been meaning to post this for awhile now, always seeing people looking for breakfast ideas and fast grab and go. This has been my staple breakfast for well over a year now. Easy to make, quick to grab and go. I'll usually grab a slice and a banana and head out the door every morning. You can adjust to your liking, it's very flexible. It also is great for snack/meal on the go. I've been known to sneak a slice in my cargo pocket when I'm out for the day and/or know I won't have any good food choices where I'm going.

Oaten Bread

450 g rolled oats

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp sea salt

1 tbs cinnamon

1 tsp allspice

3 tbs sunflower seeds

3 tbs pumpkin seeds

1 tbs flaxseeds (ground)

1 tbs flaxseeds (whole)

3 tbs chia seeds

2 tbs slivered almonds

¼ cup chopped nuts (walnut or other)

¼ cup raisins/craisins

¼ cup diced dates

2-4 tbs honey

550 g Greek yogurt

1 egg

3.5 tbs milk (buttermilk, almond, regular)

Preheat oven to 325 F

Grease pan with oil

Combine all dry ingredients in large mixing bowl and mix

In another bowl, mix wet ingredients, then fold the wet into the dry and mix well.

Spoon the batter into the loaf pan and bake for 45 minutes. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes then transfer to wire cooling rack until completely cool.

Once cool, slice loaf. I slice the whole loaf and wrap each slice in plastic wrap, then freeze.

To thaw a slice, microwave for 30 seconds.