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Vegan Coconut Overnight Oats

Creamy, sweet, vegan coconut overnight oats topped with fresh blueberries and pecans.

Course Breakfast

Cuisine American

Keyword overnight oats, vegan coconut overnight oats, vegan overnight oats

Prep Time 5 minutes minutes

Resting time 8 hours hours

Servings 1 person

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup rolled oats
• 1/4 cup sweetened vegan vanilla almond yogurt e.g., Oui from Yoplait
• 1/4 cup oat milk
• 1/2 tsp almond extract
• 1 tbsp dried shredded coconut

Toppings

• 1/3 banana
• 1 handful blueberries
• 1 handful pecans toasted
• 1 tsp dried shredded coconut

Instructions

• Combine rolled oats, oat milk, yogurt, almond extract, and dried shredded coconut. Place in refrigerator overnight.
• Prep other ingredients: toast pecans for 4 minutes, then roughly chop them. Slice bananas and wash blueberries. Set aside.
• Place oatmeal mixture into a serving bowl. Then place toppings by row: chopped pecans, shredded coconut, blueberries, then bananas. Optional: add a drizzle of agave or honey for additional sweetness. Serve cold.

For other easy breakfast ideas, check out my strawberry chia seed pudding.

How to Make the Perfect Crispy Home Fries

• Cut the potatoes into even pieces to ensure even cooking
• Boil in heavily salted water. Boiling the potatoes makes them fluffy on the inside. Salt water is essential to get flavor into the potato itself. Do not overcook the potatoes. They should be JUST cooked/tender when you take them off the heat and drain them.
• Shake the boiled potatoes vigorously to create a layer of soft potato fluff. When this is shallow fried in the oven, that will create a beautiful crispy crust.
• Use lots of oil so roast the potatoes in the even. You are essentially shallow frying the potatoes in the even so enough oil is necessary.

Serve these crispy home fries with my classic garlic herb prime rib or orange glazed miso salmon.

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Crispy Home Fries

Crispy on the outside, soft and pillowy on the inside, the perfect crispy home fries

Course Breakfast, Side Dish

Cuisine American, british

Keyword british roasted potatoes, crispy home fries, home fries

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 1 hour hour

Servings 4 people

Ingredients

• 4 Russet potatoes peeled and cut into 2 inch pieces
• 5 quarts water
• 1 tbsp salt for salting water
• 1/2 cup neutral oil
• 2 tsp salt for salting potatoes

Instructions

• Bring a 6 quart pot of water to boil. Then add in 1 tbsp of salt. Add in cut potatoes. Boil for approximately 8-12 minutes, or until just fork tender. Do not overcook the potatoes. You want them to stay intact.
• Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with foil and add in 1/4 cup oil.
• Once potatoes are just tender, drain all the water from potatoes. Cover the pot with a lid and shake the potatoes vigorously for 10 seconds, or until there is a layer of fluff surrounding each piece of potato.
• Then place the potatoes onto one layer on the baking sheet. Make sure each piece of potato makes contact with the baking sheet and oil. The potatoes should be sitting in a shallow pool of oil. Add more oil if necessary as they will be frying in the oven.
• Roast potatoes for 40 minutes or until the underside of the potatoes are golden brown. Once the underside is golden brown, flip the potatoes to allow the other side to brown for another 15-30 minutes, depending on your oven. This is assuming your heat source is at the bottom.
• Once potatoes are golden brown on both sides, remove from oven and onto paper towels. Immediately sprinkle remaining 2 tsp of salt on the potatoes. Serve immediately.

What to do with leftover whipped lemon ricotta?

Spread it on brioche toast for a yummy breakfast. Or add it as a topping to some fresh fruit, like raspberries, strawberries, and blueberries.

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Zesty lemon ricotta pancakes

Course Breakfast

Cuisine American

Keyword lemon ricotta pancakes

Prep Time 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes minutes

Servings 3 people

Ingredients

Lemon Ricotta

• 4 oz full fat ricotta
• 1/2 lemon juiced
• 1 lemon zested
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla paste

Pancakes

• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1/8 cup granulated sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/8 tsp baking soda
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1/2 egg beaten
• 1/8 cup butter melted
• 1 tsp vanilla bean paste

Toppings

• 1 cup fresh blueberries washed
• 1/4 cup powdered sugar
• 1 jar maple syrup for drizzling on top of pancakes

Instructions

Lemon Ricotta

• Using a zester, zest 1 whole lemon. Set aside the zest. Then juice 1/2 of the lemon and add to the zest, removing any seeds.
• Add together lemon juice, lemon zest, ricotta, vanilla bean paste, and sugar. Place mixture into a food processor and pulse for a few seconds until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Set aside.

Pancakes

• Combine dry ingredients: flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix them together using a whisk to break up any clumps. Set aside.
• Melt butter in the microwave -approximately 30 seconds. Set aside and allow to cool. When butter is cooled, combine with other wet ingredients: egg, milk, and vanilla bean paste. Combine until well mixed.
• Mix dry ingredients with wet ingredients. Combine with a whisk, but do not overmix. If the batter is too dry, add extra milk. Set aside at least 30 minutes.
• Heat a skillet on medium. Add in oil. When the oil becomes somewhat shimmery and loose, use a clean paper towel to wipe off excess oil. Then turn heat to low. Add in a ladle or 1/4 cup of pancake batter into the pan. After about 1 minute, when the surface of the batter begins to bubble, flip your pancake onto the other side. Allow to cook another 10 seconds, and then remove from the pan. Repeat until you have finished the batter.

Assembly

• Serve a generous dollop of lemon ricotta on top of the stack of pancakes. Using a sieve, dust powdered sugar on top of the pancakes. Then top with fresh blueberries. Serve with real maple syrup.

For other brunch ideas, check out my shrimp and easy grits.

You are probably rushed for time in the morning, and it’s hard to make time for a proper breakfast.

If you prefer something sweet and light for breakfast, you can grab an apple or make this yogurt parfait.

If you’re in the mood for savory food, you can make this easy vegan avocado toast.

The Joys of Avocado Toast

Ironically, there is a running joke about Millennials and our avocado expenses. Who knows if my extravagant spending on avocados will prevent me from ever being a homeowner? But I do know this: home ownership is not for everyone, so bring on the avocados!

If you like simple foods for breakfast that are healthy and easy to prepare, avocado toast is perfect for you! You have the freshness of the sliced veggies and the creaminess of avocado.

How to Make Avocado Toast

1. Pick a bread- sourdough, wheat, ciabatta
2. Find a ripe avocado-the flesh should give when you push gently with your finger
3. Choose seasonings- garlic salt, seasoned salt, pepper, everything bagel seasoning
4. Pick toppings: fresh herbs, eggs, bacon, thinly sliced tomato, onion, cucumber, radishes
5. Add citrus: lemon/lime juice helps to brighten up your avocado toast

FAQ:

How to keep my avocado from turning brown?

1. Squeeze lemon/lime juice on the surface of the avocado flesh. For guacamole, mix lemon juice into the mashed avocado.
2. If possible, keep seed in the avocado/guacamole.
3. Wrap with cling wrap. For guacamole, make sure the cling wrap touches the surface of the guacamole and pushes out any air in between the cling wrap and guacamole.
4. Refrigerate.

How do you ripen an avocado quickly?

Place avocados in a paper bag along with a banana or apple. Close up the paper bag and place the bag in a cool dry place. Do not leave your avocados in the refrigerator if you want them to ripen. Only refrigerate after your avocados are already ripened.

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Easy Avocado Toast

Course Main Dish

Cuisine American

Keyword sandwiches, vegan, vegetables

Ingredients

• 2 slices whole wheat toast
• ½ avocado sliced
• 1 Persian cucumber thinly sliced
• 1 Roma tomato thinly sliced
• 1 squeeze of lime juice
• 1 pinch garlic salt
• 1 pinch fresh ground black pepper
• 1 pinch everything bagel seasoning optional

Instructions

• Place toast in a toaster/toaster oven and allow to toast for 5-10 minutes at 300 degrees F.
• Slice avocado, cucumber, and tomato thinly. Set aside.
• When toast is golden brown and crispy, layer cucumber on and sprinkle sparingly with garlic salt. Then layer tomato and sprinkle sparingly with garlic salt.
• Lastly, top with avocado.
• Add a little splash of fresh squeezed lime juice on top of avocado toast. Add a small sprinkle of garlic salt and fresh ground black pepper.
• Optional: Add everything bagel seasoning.

Happy cooking! Tag me on Instagram @jennskitchendiary if you’ve made this dish! Would love to see how it turned out.

Nutmilk for Breakfast

Sometimes, I’m not in the mood for a full breakfast when I wake up to start my day. I usually prefer drinking smoothies or nut milks as a quick no-fuss breakfast lately. Come to think of it, I haven’t posted many smoothie recipes. I will make an intentional effort to post the smoothies that I have for breakfast to share some quick and easy breakfast ideas. But, when I tire of smoothies or crave something less acidic, I venture out into other drinks. This sesame nutmilk or smoothie was a result of this adventuring.

Sesame and Peanut- Classic Asian Flavor Combination

Sesame and peanut are a classic flavor combination in many Asian desserts. For example, my grandma makes Vietnamese/Chinese style mochi, a sticky rice cake. She always stuffs her mochi with an intoxicating mixture of roasted peanuts, sesame seeds, and brown sugar.

Additionally, this sesame nutmilk is a vegan recipe, as is often the case with some of the recipes I’ve been posting. But I guess I’m not too torn up about it. Hope my vegan friends out there can enjoy this healthy recipe! The sesame and peanut combination delivers that rich satisfaction that dairy often provides.

How do I cook with sesame and peanuts?

A ground mixture of peanuts, sesame seeds, brown sugar, and salt can be a delicious crumble for ice cream, panna cotta, or other creamy desserts.

Sesame seeds: can be tossed into fry batter for chicken wings, sesame chicken, or a topper for salads

Peanuts: they can be stir fried with kung pao chicken, pan fried with garlic and salt as a mini snack, crumbled on top of vermicelli noodle salad.

For more food inspiration from Asia, please check out my collection of Asian recipes.

Happy cooking (or in this case, blending)!

Price Comparison

How much did I spend to make this sesame peanut nutmilk? Sesame seeds ($1), oat milk ($2), peanuts ($.50). This makes 2 generous servings.

Pre-made ($6) vs. Home-made ($3.5).

You are paying almost double for store-bought sesame nut milk. I would recommend making it yourself to avoid any preservatives and excessive sugar that may be added by food companies. Making it at home lets you control how concentrated your nutmilk is as well as the level of sweetness.

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Sesame Peanut Milk

A quick and nourishing breakfast drink

Course Drink

Cuisine Asian

Keyword Asian, drink, smoothie, vegan

Prep Time 5 minutes minutes

Total Time 5 minutes minutes

Servings 2 people

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
• 1 handful roasted peanuts
• 2 cups unsweetened oat milk or almond milk
• 1 tbsp brown sugar or 1/2 tsp Stevia
• 1 pinch salt

Notes

Add almond milk, sesame seeds, peanuts, and brown sugar (or Stevia) into a blender and blend for at least 2 minutes, or until the nut milk is smooth.

Taste for seasoning and add a pinch of sugar or salt to taste.  

Tag me on Instagram @jennskitchendiary to share your version of this recipe!