Top 10 Savory Breakfasts

Why is breakfast a sugar fest? Even if you’re not eating cold cereal and pancakes what you’re having is most likely a desserty start to the day. Whether you’ve quit sugar with us for June or you’re just becoming more sugar conscious breakfast can be a challenge. I’ve suggested dinner forbreakfast before, but here are some of our favorites from the past couple of weeks.

Eggs- My son and I rush to the farmer’s market on Sunday morning to buy eggs before they sell out. There’s a huge difference in taste between these eggs and supermarket eggs so that would be my first suggestion.

1. Try eggs scrambled in coconut oil (virgin if you like a coconut taste, refined if not). Sprinkle with a little hot sauce and voila.
2. Green Eggs- in LBT I have our Green Eggs or muffin frittatas (see below)
3. Be a Poacher- I'm currently conquering something I hadn’t been able to without a microwave and that’s egg poaching thanks to this there are many versions be sure what you purchase is BPA free.
   
4. Paleo bread, without gluten the only bread I eat is this Paleo Bread from Food Matters- I’ve been topping it with coconut butter or avocado and Malden sea salt.
5. For a little “tartine” try our Orgran quinoa crackers with and wild smoked salmon and Greek cream cheese
6. Plain, unsweetened yogurt isn’t for everyone. I’ve been using Siggi’s plain and topping it with cinnamon or cardamom. Almond and coffee extract have been useful too.
7. Sohha Savory Yogurt- Carolyn discovered this savory yogurt and if you can get your hands on it do so. I think we’re going to see more yogurt along these lines.
   
8. If you're yogurted out try Nancy’s Cottage Cheese- this organic cottage cheese contains probiotics. Probiotics can improve mood, digestion and immunity. Probiotics also impart a little tang that I like but may come as a little surprise.
9. Miso soup- if you were in Japan you’d have this for breakfast (or part of breakfast). It’s a fermented food, in my opinion it's the best soy to eat. My two favorite brands are South River and Miso Master. I would skip the tofu and instead use sea vegetables or mushrooms. Click the South River link for an easy recipe.
10. Savory smoothie- OK so smoothies were a little sad when we first started this no sugar experiment. I don’t even need my smoothie super sweet but super bland was another story. I'm pleased to say I discovered the secret. Blend 1/2 avocado or 2Tbs unsweetened almond butter (or other nut or seed butter), 1/4 cup almond or coconut milk (yup unsweetened), 1Tbs protein powder (love my Green Dream), you can add greens or spiralina and then throw in a handful of ice. And drumroll….the key to smoothies that aren’t sweet and pretty much all of these breakfasts is salt. Add a nice pinch of Himalayan salt. You will not miss the sugar.

I’ve used lavender salt, truffle salt and Malden salt this week so a salty shoutout.

What do you usually have for breakfast? Have you thought about the sugar in your breakfast or your children’s breakfast (a whole other story)? Why do you think breakfast here is super sweet?

From The Little Book of Thin
Green Eggs 
Makes 4 Servings

1 cup sautéed or steamed kale (or other leftover vegetables though if not green, change title)
4 eggs
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1/4 tsp chili powder
Black pepper to taste.
Preheat over to 350 degrees. Spray four cups in a standard-sized muffin pan with Spectrum cooking spray. Divide the kale between the 4 cups.
In a small bowl whisk together eggs, salt, paprika, chili powder and pepper. Pour eggs evenly over the kale in the muffin cups. Bake until just set, 15 to 20 minutes. Let the frittatas cool in the pan for 5 minutes then gently remove.

Dinner for Breakfast?

A few weeks ago I had leftover kale and cauliflower from dinner. The recipe is a good one; there are olives and capers it’s full of salty goodness. I made a meal from what was left. This in itself wasn’t strange except for the fact that it was 8:30am. I tweeted about my peculiar morning meal and asked “is it normal to have kale and cauliflower for breakfast?” If we can use twitter as a barometer, it turns out people didn’t think my choice was that unusual. The ultrarunner Sarah Stanley informed me that she tries to have 5-10 vegetables for breakfast.

In other countries savory breakfasts are quite common. In Norway and smoked fish plays a prominent role in breakfast. In Costa Rica there’s Gallo Pinto (rice and beans) often served with eggs. In Japan miso soup and pickled plums are commonly served. It’s been documented that higher protein breakfasts result in lower calories consumed later in the day but there is also evidence that a savory breakfast can also help weight-wise. A study in the May issue of The Journal of Nutrition compared savory and sweet “preloads” or tastes.  There was increased food intake after the sweet preload compared to the savory preload.  The researchers concluded that savory taste might help regulate appetite.

I never could quite understand why breakfast is so often super sweet. Of course Americans are not alone in their predilection for sweet breakfasts, we didn’t invent the pain au chocolat. Nope, we invented fruity pebbles (1971) , pop tarts (1977) and muffins (3oz in 1950, more than doubled since) the size of our heads. While you may not be a full-fledged dinner for breakfast person (our lovely intern Joanna found the Japanese breakfast interesting but added “rice and beans in the morning? I don’t thing I could ever do that!”) what we eat early in the day can affect our food choices later. And whether it’s cereal or soda, most of us can benefit from eating a little less sweet. If we can have breakfast for dinner, why not have dinner foods for breakfast?

Are your breakfasts more often savory or sweet? What are your favorite breakfast foods? Do you ever eat dinner for breakfast? What's the strangest thing you've ever had in the morning?