Turning to Salad for Breakfast
Starting the day with a salad may seem like the opposite of what you want to do, but listen to me. I, too, was once very skeptical about salad for breakfast, but since then I saw a way and started preaching the good news. Breakfast salads are not only filling but also delicious, easy to mix, and help prevent food waste (more on that in a moment).
Watch. I’m a big fan of traditional American breakfast, but heavier foods can make me nap before I type my first sentence. For those of us with no big appetites in the morning, a tower of pancakes or bacon and eggs might be a little plentiful first thing in the morning. So I try to save these rich dishes for the evening and start my day with something lighter, but still very satisfying.
To make it yourself, you will need the following.
- A bunch of green stuff: There are no rules here, and just about any salad green will do. I’m currently on a baby cabbage kick, but shredded, mashed adult cabbage is a great base too. This portion of the salad will not only provide a healthy base for relaxation, but it will also give you the smug sense of superiority that comes from eating something green before noon.
- Simple dressing: I mix roughly equal parts olive oil and apple cider vinegar with a spoonful of honey to make a very light and vibrant vinaigrette, but you can use any other vinegar you like, lemon juice, or even a mixture of lemon and orange juice. if you want your salad to be considered a complementary breakfast.
- Something extra: Just because you’re not eating cream cheese- filled French toast doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be satiated. Drain the avocado from the bread and transfer to a salad bowl. Some kind of cheese is never a bad idea – can I suggest bread cheese ? – or you can chop up some breakfast sausage (about one small link) or a couple of strips of bacon on top, because sometimes breakfast doesn’t feel like breakfast without jerky. Smoked salmon also counts.
- Some fresh plant parts: Tomatoes are an obvious choice here, but I also love radishes – did you know you have radishes for breakfast ? – cucumbers, strawberries, blueberries and – if I know I’m not going to collaborate with anyone that morning – thinly sliced onions.
- Egg: This is perhaps the most important ingredient in a breakfast salad. You can roast it, grill it, stir it, or cook it hard-boiled the night before, but it should go to the plate (or bowl, whichever you prefer for the salad). While all eggs are good, I like the one with runny yolk as it mixes very nicely with the dressing.
- Anything you need to use up – the last piece of steak, a few fried mushrooms or carrots, or those 1/2 cup of quinoa that has been in the refrigerator for several days – are all good choices. Heck, I even cut a cold pizza slice and tossed it, combining two of my favorite breakfasts. (Bonus: You now have a second thing that makes you feel complacent, which is how well you are good at not wasting food.)
On top of that, I found that Trader Joe’s Everything But the Bagel really takes him to a very special place to have breakfast, so I’ll buy myself a shaker too.