The Doctor Weighs In

In most of the Western world, salad is not a traditional breakfast food. Most of us wouldn’t touch the green stuff until lunchtime as least, preferring instead to start the day with cold cereal, an egg dish, or a pastry.

Once you start having breakfast salads, however, it will become a habit you won’t want to break. Besides substituting for more caloric options, such as bacon or butter croissant or sugar coated cereals, salad fills you up. When made with fresh, high quality ingredients, it is a great source of vitamins and fiber. Add some cheese and a little extra virgin olive oil and you have a wonderful Mediterranean style breakfast treat.

To get you started, here is my recipe for what I call, " Pat's Great Big Breakfast Salad."  Here’s the recipe:

Place in a bowl the following ingredients:

2 cups of torn leaves of a crispy lettuce (like Romaine)

Slice or chop ¼ cup of fresh tomatoes

Chop 2 scallions (green onions)

Fresh herbs (basil, parsley, oregano – all easy to grow)

1 ounce Feta cheese, crumbled

Toss with

2 teaspoons of extra virgin olive oil

Freshly cracked black pepper.

Be sure you weigh and measure the cheese and olive oil as this is where the calories come from. If you are careless here, you can add a lot of calories and it really won’t taste any better. This large, satisfying breakfast salad has only 188 calories (107 from the fat in the cheese and olive oil).

If possible, buy your produce from a Farmer’s market or from a local grower at your supermarket. It is likely to be fresher because it doesn’t have to be transported long distances. And, it often tastes better because it was allowed to stay in the ground or on the vine longer than veggies that are shipped to distant parts.

Serve with

A Wasa light rye cracker, 2 or 3 olives or a handful of radishes. Add a good cup of coffee and a large glass of ice water with sliced lemon and, voila, a perfect breakfast.

If you don’t have time to make this in the am. Prepare it the night before (minus the cheese and olive oil). Put the cheese in a separate plastic bag and buy a small container of olive oil that you can keep at work. When everyone else is chowing down of a 1,000 calorie pastry, you’ll be filling up on vegetables.

PS: If you are a PEERtrainer (www.peertrainer) participant, you can download this item into your food log by going to the PEERtrainer calorie wiki. Search for Pat’s great big breakfast salad and click on download to “breakfast.

Want a healthy breakfast?  Try a salad.