 |
| Sometimes you just need to dig in! |
With the weather appearing to get warmer and it being the Easter holidays I decided to experiment with breakfast options for work. As you may have gathered, I am now a breakfast super-fan but it did take perseverance. It is the best way to start your day nutritionally BUT I also enjoy taking that few minutes at my desk before all the rush to enjoy my breakfast.
Over the wintery looking months breakfast was easy, pancakes or oats with a variety of toppings from fruits to seeds to chocolate or a combination of some or all. Job done! Now that it’s getting warmer though I need to change my options. I like easy to make refreshing foods when it’s warm outside or when the sun is shining, so what better time to experiment than when the weather changes and you are stuck inside?
I think one of the reasons I find breakfast difficult is the fact I eat quite slowly and I’m ‘sogaphobic’ so cereal is a problem (yes that is a made up word and no I’m not ashamed of the fact I just stuck phobic on the end)! I don’t do soggy food, it’s beans next to not on toast and definitely no dunking of biscuits in my cuppa.
Having been on the quest for breakfast foods for a while now I’ve built up quite a repertoire! The standard oats or pancakes (they definitely shouldn’t just be eaten once a year) for cold days and now I can add my wholegrain pancakes and omelettes. Fruit, granola and yoghurt for me is a way around the soggy cereal dilema. I sprinkle chunks of granola on after so it stays crunchy and there is definitely no mixing in. This also works really well with some passion fruit curd if you can get hold of it!On a recent trip to France I discovered Kellogg’s crunchy nut oat granola. Life hasn’t been the same since. It has lovely honey tasting clusters of oat with little cubes of dark chocolate and some hazelnuts thrown in for good measure. I’d have it for breakfast every morning whilst we were there, just sprinkled over a yoghurt. This has become one of my go to breakfasts now. It is quick and easy to prepare and so nice on a hot day.
My other go to breakfast suitable meal is an omelette. It’s getting a tad silly now in fact. I think I’ve pretty much had an omelette every day for the past week. They’re quick, easy to make and you can have so many different fillings in or on them. As a light meal I try and pack it full of veggies but also some cured meats to give it an epic flavour. I pretty much always add a bit of fresh chilli too.
Eggs are such a versatile ingredient, with them being so readily available and inexpensive as well, they are one of my top 10 ingredients and something we always have in the house. I always start my omelette in a pan then finish in the oven so they rise and become supper light and fluffy. This works well if you add cheese to as it melts, gently without you having to flip it and get yourself into a whole cheese stuck to pan situation! It also crisps up any ingredients on the top which I love.
Lately I’ve been buying kale like it’s going out of fashion and I need to stock up so I whacked a handful of that in my omelette one day and the earthy flavours with the sweetness of sun-blush tomatoes and the saltiness of salami worked an absolute treat. I also like a classic combo of ham and tomato, I use a Spanish cured ham and cherry tomatoes with my standard chilli kick. If you haven’t had an omelette in a while give it a go, let me know what you put in and on it. I’d also love to here if you get slightly obsessed like I did and had one every day : )
Bea's Bites Online 