A Dozen Ways to Add Veggies to Your Breakfast Bowl

Contents

One of the easiest ways to ease into the veggies on your brekkie bowl trend — start by pureeing or slicing roasted pumpkin, then stirring through or dolloping on top of porridge, muesli or flakes.
Make the puree into a chai pumpkin latte (hot or cold) and pour over any cereal or grain you wish for a very fancy milk substitute.
Grate raw pumpkin into porridge as it cooks, or simply sprinkle over top.
If all else fails bake it into your favourite breakfast food, like Pumpkin Pancakes or Pumpkin Granola.

Only old beets, or beets with dirt on them, taste like dirt — so stop using that as an excuse. Look for fresh baby beets, they tend to be sweeter, then scrub them well.
Puree or wedges of roasted beetroot work the same way as pumpkin, with the added benefit of giving a wonderfully lurid pink to your breakfast in the process. Case in point, Pink Princess Porridge.
Fresh grated beetroot is quick and easy to stir through porridge or muesli, or go one step further and blend into a gorgeous smoothie bowl then top with a handful of granola.

Grated or spiralized carrot can be mixed, as-is, with any brekkie bowl base.
To soften the carrot, add it to porridge as it cooks or blanch quickly in hot water.
Roasted or steamed carrot puree is also a great addition to porridge, or swirled through yoghurt and topped with muesli.

Step one, grate or spiralize, step two, add to things. Easy.
If you have issues with the texture of raw zucchini add it, with a good helping of cinnamon and ginger, to porridge as it cooks. Or blanch the spirals in boiling water for 30 seconds before using.

I’m not a fan of raw sweet potato so I always cook it first — dice or slice and roast, wrap in foil and bake, steam then mash — it’s all good.

Slice, chop or mash, simples. Every time I share a photo of avocado on porridge someone new questions my intentions, it’s lovely and buttery and I’ll eat it on pretty much anything. Also, it makes really pretty roses.
Avocado is also one of the base ingredients in pretty much any smoothie or smoothie bowl I make, it adds a richness without dairy or extra sugar from banana. If you want to ease into things puree it into a chocolate version first.

Don’t look at me that way, cucumber sits firmly in the crunchy and slightly sweet veggie camp, and not too far from a crisp apple or nashi pear if you ask me.
Find one with thin skin (or peel if you must) and make sure it’s super fresh, soft cucumbers are sad. Cucs are better on cold bowls than hot though — seriously, don’t cook cucumbers.
If you can’t manage sliced cucumber on a breakfast bowl just yet this is another one that’s perfect for those smoothies.

Even with its natural sweetness spinach sits firmly in the smoothie camp for me, or in the coloured milk camp if that’s your thing.
Blend spinach leaves with liquid until very smooth and bright green, then add other ingredients for a smoothie or try to convince your kid that Shrek-milk is the best thing ever.

Make up a batch of cauli rice and stir through oats or muesli with some cinnamon and ginger. Yep, really, if cauliflower can be made into lemon cheesecake, chocolate buttercream andcinnamon coffee cake it can make friends with your breakfast bowl.

Adding mushrooms is a truly savoury step but it’s worth a mention. Sautée mushies in a bit of olive oil with a pinch of thyme, salt and pepper and use to top a savoury porridge bowl.