Nourishing Breakfasts Archives - Page 2 of 12

Citrusy Green Smoothie

I was a pretty early adopter of the green smoothie, but I burned out on them a while back. I was really excited about trying the Citrusy Green Smoothie on page 20 of the new book Brassicas: Cooking the World’s Healthiest Vegetables: Kale, Cauliflower, Broccoli, Brussels Sprouts and More, though. It looked different from any green smoothie I’ve had before…

I’ve now made this smoothie a few times and I really love it: the fresh orange juice and the pineapple combine with the greens to make a very delicious drink. The other thing I like about this smoothie is that it has some coconut oil in it. If you are going to drink green smoothies, I always advise adding some fat because fat helps your body to assimilate the calcium in the greens. Coconut oil is a good source of healthy fat, and makes a tasty addition here.

Though I haven’t yet had a chance to make more of the recipes from Brassicas, I am very much looking forward to doing so.

Author Laura B. Russell does a really nice job of focusing on both the nutritional benefits of these veggies and the cooking methods that allow them to shine. There are chapters on Kale, Cauliflower, Brussels Sprouts and Cabbage, Broccoli, Leafy Brassicas, Asian Brassicas, and Root Brassicas and Kohlrabi; the photographs by Sang An are really beautiful.

Also of note: the book addresses the potential downside of consuming too many brassicas raw (there is a concern that doing so can interfere with thyroid function). The upshot (which I discuss in my book, as well): don’t eat loads of uncooked brassicas. This means it’s best not to go overboard with the green smoothies, especially if you have a thyroid problem (honestly: I don’t think it’s a good plan to go overboard with any food, no matter how healthy it’s supposed to be!). There’s nothing to worry about as far as cooked brassicas go, though. So eat those cooked greens, etc. to your heart’s delight.

Have you ever started a book and felt an immediate sense of kinship with the author?

This was my experience within the first few pages of Whole-Grain Mornings: New Breakfast Recipes to Span the Seasons. I just adore Megan Gordon‘s writing, and her recipes are so up my alley. I’ve been cooking from the book for a few months now, so it’s time I tell you about it! I’m also going to share one of the recipes that I’ve been enjoying from the book: Dried Mango and Toasted Coconut Muesli.

Whole-Grain Mornings is chock full of health-promoting, seasonally inspired recipes. Megan is a whiz with granola (she actually owns a company called Marge: it’s seriously the best granola I’ve ever tasted) and you’ll be happy to know she shares a few takes on granola in this book. But the book goes way beyond granola: Megan also shares recipes for things like nut milks, yogurt, fried rice, and numerous condiments and egg dishes. And while it is a breakfast cookbook, I don’t really think there’s a reason to limit the recipes to morning consumption only.

I have made the Smoked Salmon Crème Fraîche Tart, the Whole-Grain Pancake Mix, and the Whole-Grain Gingerbread (I photographed them all because I wasn’t quite sure which recipe I would end up posting here). They were all delicious…

…as was this Dried Mango and Toasted Coconut Muesli.

Muesli isn’t something I make very often…I usually do go for granola instead. But this muesli is briefly toasted, so it’s actually similar to granola (though with far less oil, and with very little added sweetener). I was drawn to this recipe because of the coconut and dried mango…these lend a tropical “vibe” that’s more than welcome this time of year! It’s been so snowy and cold this winter: if I can’t be on the beach, I am going to fantasize about being on the beach, and the ingredients in this muesli help a lot.

Muesli is usually soaked for a short while or overnight (in milk, nut milk, juice or another liquid). Soaking grains does have some potential benefits which Megan mentions in her book (and which I discuss in my book, as well), but soaking doesn’t work that well in this case due to the toasted nature of this muesli. As for serving it, Megan likes to eat her muesli with thinned yogurt; I prefer mine with (raw) milk.

Scones are easy to make and they’re so, so tasty. This blueberry scone recipe is a favorite around here; my daughter loves those so much, in fact, that she was pretty skeptical when I recently made this orange date oatmeal version instead. She didn’t even want to try them at first, but she came around eventually. She still prefers the blueberry ones, but admitted these are delicious, too :)

These orange date oatmeal scones are not too sweet and they have some “heft” due to the oats. They are adapted from a recipe in the lovely book Irish Pantry: Traditional Breads, Preserves, and Goodies to Feed the Ones You Love (I was sent a review copy). I made a few changes to the recipe in the book, one of which was to halve the amount of butter. I have absolutely nothing against butter (I love it, in fact!) but two sticks seemed like a lot to me.

You can use a food processor to make these if you want to speed things up (and a food processor does make incorporating the butter into the dough a snap), but I made the recipe by hand and it worked out fine. I imagine you can substitute another type of dried fruit for the dates: the recipe in Irish Pantry features currants, but raisins or dried berries would work, too…you take your pick. Lemon zest and juice can certainly be used instead of the orange zest and juice, if you like, but I do like the orange date combo, I must say.

I’m participating in National Blog Posting Month (NaBloPoMo) which means I’m blogging every day of November, 2013!

I am really particular about my bananas. I love snacking on ones that are just on the verge of ripeness, but once they hit that ripe to slightly overripe phase? Blech: they kind of gross me out. So most of the bananas I buy end up being frozen to put into smoothies, or I let them blacken. Then I make banana bread or muffins.

I have been eyeing a recipe for Coconut Cocoa Banana Muffins over on the lovely blog Food Loves Writing for a while now. Yesterday I was going to make those muffins but then I realized I was out of eggs (yes, even those of us with chickens find ourselves without eggs sometimes!). So I decided to change up the muffins a bit and make them vegan, and to leave out the cocoa and coconut since my family really prefers simple to embellished when it comes to baked goods.

These vegan banana muffins really are exceedingly simple to make, and they are delicious! They have wonderful banana flavor and a dense texture I really like. I used Florida Crystals Demerara Cane Sugar to sweeten them, but you can use any type of granulated sugar, including organic cane sugar or coconut sugar, in yours. I tossed bittersweet, fair-trade chocolate chips into 1/3 of the batter, but accept my apologies for not measuring exactly how much I used (I am a terrible food blogger sometimes!) If you prefer to make these with an egg and butter, they won’t be vegan (but they will be yummy). We’ve been enjoying them with a smear of organic peanut butter on top.

Be sure to check out all of Shanna’s recipes. I frequently drool over her food and her writing! Speaking of her writing, she wrote one of the most beautiful ebooks I have read: it’s called Written Together: A Story of Beginnings, in the Kitchen and Beyond. I read it a few months ago and absolutely loved it…you will love it, too!

Fall is in full swing where I live. My area is well known for spectacular displays of foliage and the trees are definitely not disappointing right now. This recipe, adapted from a similar one created by George Bryant of Civilized Caveman Cooking, is just perfect for this time of year.

George is the author of a sweet little ebook called A Paleo Pumpkin Thanksgiving and has a recipe for Pumpkin Pie Muffins in the book: I used his muffins as the inspiration for mine. You can get A Paleo Pumpkin Thanksgiving as part of the Harvest Your Health ebook bundle sale that’s going on right now. George’s is one of over 70 ebooks (many of which are cookbooks) in the sale (there are also magazine subscriptions and meal plans)…it’s a ridiculously good deal and you can check it out here.

These muffins may be made with any type of squash purée (or you may use pumpkin–fresh or canned–as called for in the original recipe). I used delicata squash because that’s what I had on hand. I trimmed off the ends, and then sliced my delicata squash in half, removed the seeds, and placed in on a cookie sheet. I drizzled the pieces with a little olive oil, then baked them at 400 degrees F. for about 50 minutes, until they were tender. When they were cooled. I scooped out the flesh and mashed enough squash to make 3/4 cup.

These spiced squash muffins are made with coconut flour and the recipe is appropriate for anyone who eats gluten-free, grain-free, or Paleo. This recipe is also for anyone like me whose diet doesn’t necessarily fit any of these classifications…we just like our recipes to be nutrient-dense. These muffins contain quite a few eggs, which I really appreciated because my chickens have been such fantastic layers lately. It’s late in the growing season so I’ve been letting them forage in my garden during the day; their yolks have been super yellow as a result!

I own this beautiful muffin pan that I received at a blogging event a few years ago. I always use it for recipes like this, but of course a standard muffin pan will work just fine. You will get 10-12 muffins out of this recipe.

Citrusy Green Smoothie

Dried Mango and Toasted Coconut Muesli

Orange Date Oatmeal Scones

Vegan Banana Muffins

Grain-Free Spiced Squash Muffins