I’ve been thinking a lot lately of how I can switch up my breakfast routine. Variety, after all, is the spice of life they say. Last night I had a craving for chocolate. And after whipping up a batch of chocolate covered nuts and raisins, and eating about half of the batch, I probably came close to a medical overdose of the stuff. As I tried to get to bed at 2am, my heart was racing and my feet just wouldn’t get warm. And then I woke up at 8am in pretty much the same state. So what if it was sweet dinners that pushed over the edge towards savoury breakfasts? There was no way I could down cereal this morning. I think I may have just started a trend…Savoury breakfasts for a week!

Sometimes ingenuity comes when you need it most. As I scoured my pantry for heart-rate slowing foods this morning, I decided to try a variation on something my friend Carolyn does. Every morning she tosses a grain and veggie in her rice cooker, goes and meditates for 45 minutes and comes back to breakfast! Well there was no way I was meditating in my state and I don’t have a rice cooker. But the premise worked…and I wanted to do it faster. 15 minutes later, I had such an AMAZING breakfast, I wish I had made double for lunch. Thus my commitment to a savoury breakfast every day this week was launched.

Here’s today’s magic potion. I intend to develop variations throughout the week. Pardon my uncreative recipe titles.

Quinoa-Dahl-Veggie Breakfast Bowl

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup split mung dahl (i.e. green mung beans with the shells worn off so it cooks faster and gets a bit mushy). Rinse thoroughly
• 1/4 cup quinoa, rinsed thoroughly
• 1.5 cups water (The water ratio cooking instructions for these two ingredients are 3:1 and 2:1 respectively. So this means 3/4 c + 1/2 c = 1.5 cups)
• Chopped veggies of your choice to steam:
• 1/2 cup total of Broccoli florets, chopped Carrots and chunked turnip…could have done more though

Method:

1. In a small pot, combine the grain + bean + water and bring to boil. Reduce to simmer and cook covered for ~10min.
2. Add in veggies on top to steam. Leave covered for another 5 minutes. (note: if the grain/bean mix runs out of water before your veggies are cooked, add a bit of water to the pot).
3. Remove from heat and add the following toppings:

• 1 Tbsp macadamia nut butter
• 1 Tbsp flax oil
• 1 Tbsp nutritional yeast
• 1/2 tsp ground flax seeds
• Salt & Pepper to taste

Serves 2 or 1 hungry person. This is sure to kick any morning sugar cravings to the curb!

But my heart is still racing…..  :(

Just out of my own curiosity, I wanted to see what the nutritional breakdown of this baby would be….yikes, Looks like it’s a heavy baby! I think I’ll cut the nut butter or flax oil next time.

Cals 295, Fat 15g, Carbs 30g, Fiber 5g, Sugars 1.5g, Protein 11g