People are finicky over breakfast. Some hate it. Others say they like it but don’t have time for it. Yet others absolutely must have the same thing every day.
Nutritionists agree that we need breakfasts that team the carbohydrates to power us up for the day with protein to take us from early morning to lunchtime without snacking.
Lots of traditional breakfasts have that combination. The Anglo-American tradition is high-protein eggs with carbohydrate toast, perhaps with extra protein from bacon or sausage. In Germany and Holland, sliced lunch meats and cheese with bread fulfill the carbohydrate-plus-protein rule. In Greece, it’s protein-rich yogurt drizzled with high-carbohydrate honey.
Another Greek breakfast stratagem is to pick up a coffee and grab a slice of cheese pie from the bakery on the way to work. Indeed, baked goods, particularly ones you can hold in your hand, are breakfast favorites. Among them are croissants in France, conchas in Mexico, and our own bagels, doughnuts, and muffins.
Probably our commonest breakfast is high-protein milk with carbohydrate cereals. Mixing cereals such as oats or corn with milk (or water) to make oatmeal or corn mush is an ancient tradition. But modern packaged cereals date back only to the late 19th century when dietary reformers were promoting alternatives to the traditional meaty breakfasts, which they believed provoked intemperance and disease. In America, vegetarian Dr. John Kellogg and his brother Will created grain-based breakfast rusks before hitting on cornflakes, which reached markets in 1902. They were a hit — and not restricted to breakfast. In 1915 they were on the appetizer menu at the Red Lion Inn in Stockbridge.
Similarly, in 1900 Swiss doctor Maximilian Bircher-Benner began serving muesli to the patients in his sanatorium for every meal. Seeking an easy way to combine all the nutrients he thought they needed, he had developed muesli by mixing oats and nuts with grated apples, lemon juice, honey, and either cream or condensed milk,
With apples and nuts as a major ingredient, muesli adds a healthful dose of minerals, vitamin, and fiber to the classic carbohydrate-protein mix. Using fruit and vegetables to boost the nutritional value and brighten the taste of breakfast is a good idea, especially at this time of year, when there are local apples, winter squash, and other crops to play with.
Corn, zucchini, apples, and pumpkin make muffins special. Though quick and easy to bake, muffins are still too big a task for busy week-day morning. But making a big weekend batch with some to eat right away and some to freeze for later in the week can be a fun family project.
Pumpkin is also good in pancakes. So too are corn kernels, which can add interest to traditional cornmeal pancakes. Nuts are a radical option with almond or other nut flours replacing wheat flour to make a tasty gluten-free version.
Then, of course, there are breakfast things from the toaster. Popping up like Jack-in-the-box, they ask only for a tasty protein topping. Peanut butter is a favorite among kids. Hummus is another option, especially on toasted bagels, as is the traditional smoked salmon. A good garnish for either is sliced tomatoes. They are the star of the show in Spanish breakfast favorite “pan y tomate:” toasted crusty bread dressed with garlic, olive oil, and a fresh red puree of tomatoes.
You’ll find super-easy directions below, along with some other quick breakfast recipes that include fruit and vegetables.
“Pan y tomate” simply means bread and tomato. With garlic and olive oil, this breakfast tastes more than the sum of its parts. In Spain, every bar and café serves it, often with a few olives and a slice or two of Serrano ham for protein.
1 large ripe but not over-ripe tomato
6-inch piece of baguette, halved transversely or sliced crusty bread or roll
1 fat clove garlic, halved or crushed
About 2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt to taste
Using the large teeth of a box grater, grate the tomato into a bowl. (Yes, grating a tomato sounds weird but it’s fast and it works.) Toast the sliced baguette or other bread, preferably under the broiler, though a toaster also works. Rub the toasted side thoroughly with the cut side of the garlic clove, then drizzle generously with olive oil. (Alternately for a more garlicky taste, immerse the crushed garlic in the oil and spread it on the bread). Spoon the tomato on top. Drizzle with a bit more oil. Add salt to taste. Makes one serving.
Dr. Bircher-Brenner’s original muesli recipe had just oats, nuts, apples, lemon juice, honey and cream. Today, dried fruits and additional grain flakes are common additions, and berries or bananas are typical accompaniments. The following recipe includes a make-ahead base that can be amplified at serving time.
For the make-ahead mixture
2 cups quick cooking rolled oats
½ cup coarsely chopped hazelnuts or almonds
⅓ cup raisins
12 soft dried apricots, quartered
½ cup whole wheat cereal (optional)
1 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)
For serving
Unpeeled apples
Honey to taste
Light cream or whole milk or yogurt
Berries or sliced bananas (optional)
For the make-ahead mixture, combine all the ingredients. Store in an airtight container.
For serving, for each person moisten half a cup of the dry mix with one-third cup water. Grate on half an apple (or more if you like.) Stir in a tablespoon of honey and about half a cup light cream or milk or yogurt to make the muesli up to the consistency of oatmeal. Add berries and banana or other fruit slices to taste. Makes about 6 servings.
French toast has the carbohydrate and protein mix of bread and eggs. Here muesli or granola crisps it up while jam and berries zing it with extra flavor and nutrients.
2 eggs
2 tablespoons milk
¾ teaspoon vanilla extract
4 slices bread
2 tablespoons blackberry, raspberry or blueberry jam
½ cup muesli or granola
About 2 tablespoons oil such as canola or avocado oil or as needed
½ cup berries
In a shallow dish whisk the eggs, milk and vanilla extract together. Spread the jam on two slices of the bread and top with the other two slices to make two jam sandwiches. Spread the muesli or granola on a plate. (If it has lots of raisins, consider taking them out as they could burn or harden unappetizingly in cooking.)
Now sit the first sandwich in the egg mixture. Turn over and let the other side sit in it, spooning the mixture up the sides of the sandwich to make sure the edges are coated. Remove and sit in the muesli or granola mixture, pressing down so the eggy surface gets coated. Repeat this with the other sandwich.
Heat a tablespoon or so of oil in a frying pan over moderately high heat. Place the sandwiches in the pan coated side down. Cook over moderate heat for 2-3 minutes, then peek underneath to see if the coating is golden. If so, flip the sandwiches over and cook for 3-4 minutes on the other side. Serve with berries – ideally the same sort as the jam you used – and maple syrup. Makes 2 servings.
You don’t have to be on a gluten-free diet to enjoy these pumpkiny pancakes.
1 tablespoon flaked or slivered almonds
¾ cup ground almonds
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon powdered cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
¾ cup mashed fresh or canned pumpkin or butternut squash
½ teaspoon almond extract (optional)
1 egg, lightly beaten
Canola or other vegetable oil for frying
Toast the flaked almonds by spreading them on a flat plate and cooking for 30 seconds in a microwave or for 4 minutes in a 300-degree oven. Set aside.
In a large bowl, mix the ground almonds with the sugar, cinnamon, baking powder and salt. When thoroughly combined, stir in the mashed pumpkin or butternut and the almond extract to make a stiff paste. Add the egg and stir to mix well.
Heat a tablespoon or so of canola or other oil in a frying pan or a pancake pan over moderate heat. Using a quarter-cup measuring cup as a scoop, add 2-3 separate dollops of the mixture to the pan. Spread each one with the back of a spoon to make a pancake no bigger than 3-inches across. Use a spatula to knock the edges into a circular shape. Cook for 4-5 minutes, then when the edge has firmed up a bit use a large spatula to carefully turn the pancakes over. (Because these pancakes lack flour, they don’t hold together as well as ordinary pancakes so care is needed here, though if a pancake breaks you can easily knock it back together.) Cook the second side for 3 minutes. Continue making pancakes until the mixture is used up. Serve with a few toasted almond flakes on top. You can add bacon or sausage on the side, or sliced fruit and syrup if you like. Makes about 6 pancakes.
Sweet potatoes give these muffins their name because they belong to the same Ipomoea genus that includes the lovely blue morning glories that twindle up fences and mailboxes in late summer. These muffins taste pretty gorgeous too. Sweet potatoes and bananas provide a wealth of vitamins and minerals, while whole-wheat flour, oats, and eggs have the protein to power us through to lunchtime. You can use leftover mashed sweet potatoes if you like
1 cup mashed sweet potato
1 very ripe banana, peeled and mashed with 1 teaspoon sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten
½ cup canola oil
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
½ cup whole wheat flour
½ cup rolled oats
4 teaspoons baking powder
¾ cup dark brown sugar
¼ teaspoon mace or freshly grated nutmeg
½ teaspoon cinnamon
2-4 tablespoons milk or as needed
½ cup chopped walnuts (optional)
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Grease a 12-hole muffin pan or line the holes with cupcake liners.
In a medium bowl, stir together the sweet potato, banana, eggs, and oil. In a large bowl, mix the two flours, oats, baking powder, brown sugar, mace or nutmeg and cinnamon. Make a well in the center and pour in the sweet potato mixture. Stir quickly to combine but do not overbeat. If the mixture is too stiff to stir easily, add milk a little at time until you get a soft – but not sloppy – dropping consistency. Stir in walnuts. Spoon into the prepared muffin pan, filling each cup full. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick or skewer poked into the middle comes out clean. Makes 12.