Desperate times call for desperate measures. Your man “allergic”
to the texture of vegetables? Time for
cauliflower jalapeno hummus with sweet potato chips. The vegetables you
optimistically bought at the beginning of the week going ugly faster than the
Beer Olympics at a frat house? Time for cheesy-topped veggie lasagna. Your kid
won’t eat anything green, even Pirate Booty? Time for spinach brownies.
But what about those times that aren’t so desperate, the
times when you want to eat something delicious, yet unabashedly healthy? Stealth
health has its place in the kitchen, for sure, but I think we’ve finally gotten
to a place where it’s culturally acceptable to whole-heartedly enjoy vegetables
at every meal of the day without being labeled a freak (or so I’d like to
think).
Smoothies and cold-pressed juices are everywhere; eating
clean, eating Paleo, eating local, eating in season; vegetarian and vegan
lifestyles aren’t just for the tree-hugging, granola munchers living off the
grid. No matter what camp you fall into, it seems to be the consensus that
eating more vegetables is the right thing to do.
Produce-filled plates at lunch and dinner are nothing
new; no one will blink twice if you chow down on a Greek salad for lunch or
grilled vegetable tacos for dinner. But
breakfast is a little trickier, falling traditionally into either the “sweet”
or “savory” categories, where vegetables only get action in the latter.
However, the recent emergence of green smoothies has called for a shift of this
paradigm. If you’ve wrapped your head around those, it’s time try the breakfast
salad. The breakfast salad is the green smoothie’s bolder, more sophisticated
older sister. It’s unprocessed, you need to chew it; there’s no mistaking there’s
vegetables and fruit on your plate, but they taste satisfying and good (even at
eight o’clock in the morning). Unlike a homogenous beverage, there’s balance in
texture and flavor, with sweet and savory, crunchy and smooth, acidic and
creamy.
This summer permutation takes shape with hearty Swiss
chard and crunchy cabbage tossed with a lemony almond butter dressing on a base
of crisp, sweet watermelon. Tart blueberries and creamy avocado punctuate the
greens and a sprinkle of toasted coconut flakes up the ante considerably. So
yeah, I ate a salad for breakfast. And it was damn good.
Swiss Chard,
Avocado & Blueberry Breakfast Salad with Almond Butter Dressing
Obviously, this recipe is a template, an outline if you will for a
much broader idea. All the fruits and vegetables, nuts and seeds are
interchangeable with whatever ingredients you fancy. You could add cooked whole
grains like barley or quinoa, even dairy (yogurt or cheese) if you are so
inclined.
Serving the salad on a slice of watermelon makes for a beautiful presentation and eating it with a fork and knife makes the whole meal more satisfying.
Serving the salad on a slice of watermelon makes for a beautiful presentation and eating it with a fork and knife makes the whole meal more satisfying.
Serves 1, generously
Ingredients:
Almond Butter
Dressing
1 tablespoon almond butter (raw or roasted)
1 tablespoon ground flax seeds
1 teaspoon maple syrup (optional)
1 teaspoon lemon/lime zest (optional)
2 tablespoons fresh lemon/lime juice (or apple cider
vinegar)
1 tablespoon water
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
Pinch sea salt
Salad
1 cup cabbage, finely julienned
2 cups (~2 large leaves) Swiss chard, stems finely sliced
and leaves cut into pieces
2 cups watermelon (cut into chunks or left as a whole
piece; alternatively use an apple)
½ cup fresh blueberries (or other berries)
1/3 ripe avocado, cut into slices or chunks
1 tablespoon unsweetened shredded coconut, toasted
Make the almond
butter dressing. Whisk together the dressing ingredients and set aside. Combine
the cabbage and Swiss chard, then toss with the dressing.
Assemble the
salad. Place the watermelon (or apple) on the plate and top with the
dressed greens. Scatter the blueberries, avocado and toasted coconut over the
top and enjoy. Alternatively cut the watermelon or apple into chunks and toss
all ingredients together in a bowl.
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