8 Healthy Breakfasts to Start Your Day Right

1. Deliciously Ella‘s Green Smoothie Bowl

Serves 2

As healthy breakfasts go, this one is filled with body-loving goodness.

For the smoothie base:

• 230ml of coconut milk from a carton, about 1 cup
• 2 frozen bananas
• 6 frozen strawberries
• 50g fresh spinach  

For the topping:

• 1 tablespoon of almond butter
• Handful of granola, about 40g

Method:

Start by peeling and cutting the bananas into small pieces and placing them in the freezer overnight.

When you’re ready to make the smoothie bowl, simply place all of the ingredients in a blender and pulse until smooth.

Pour your mixture into a bowl, sprinkle with granola and a drizzle of almond butter.

2. Golden Milk by Jasmine Hemsley

Serves 1

Ingredients

• 175ml whole milk or 250ml almond milk
• Water, for simmering
• 3 cardamom pods, cracked
• 1⁄2 tsp ground turmeric
• 2.5cm piece of fresh ginger, grated or 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1⁄2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1⁄4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 1⁄2 tbsp jaggery

Method

Place the milk in a small pot or milk pan. If you are using dairy milk, add 120ml of water. If you are using almond milk, add 60ml of water. Add the remaining ingredients, apart from the jaggery, and gently simmer for 10–15 minutes. Add a splash more hot water if needed. Stir through the jaggery to taste, strain and serve.

Recipe from East by West: Simple Recipes for Ultimate Mind-Body Balance by Jasmine Hemsley, published by Bluebird (£25)

3. Green Egg Frittata from The Good Life Eatery

Makes about 10 portions

Ingredients:

• 8 eggs
• 1 medium courgette, sliced into half moons
• 8 asparagus spears, sliced into rounds about 5mm (¼ in) thick
• 75g (3oz) kale, stalks removed and leaves
• chopped
• 4 tbsp chopped basil leaves
• 2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
• 6 spring onions, cut into rounds about 5mm (¼ in) thick
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled and roughly chopped
• ½ medium fennel bulb, thinly sliced
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method:

Preheat the oven to 170C/325F/gas 3. Line a 20cm (8in) round springform cake tin with greaseproof paper.

In a large bowl, crack the eggs and whisk well. Add all the remaining ingredients, stir and season really well with salt and pepper.

Pour the mixture into the lined cake tin and bake in the hot oven for 45-50 minutes until a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean. Remove from the oven and leave to cool.

When cool, remove from the tin and slice into wedges. Serve with almond pesto if using.

NOTE: You can substitute the whole eggs with 500g of egg whites.

Recipe taken from ‘The Good Life Eatery Cookbook’ (2016, £20) by Shirin Kouros and Yasmine Larizadeh.

4. Bala Baya‘s Yemeni Pancakes

Serves 2

Ingredients:

• Shop-bought puff pastry (preferably dairy free), rolled into 5mm thickness and cut into 2 circles roughly 20cm in diameter
• 3 eggs
• 2 ripe tomatoes
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 2 green chillies
• half a teaspoon of ground cardamom/ 3 cardamom pods crushed
• 100g Tahini
• Handful of parsley
• 1 lemon
• 100ml cold water

Method:

1. Put on a saucepan of water and bring to a boil, put the eggs in for 9 minutes exactly and rinse with cold water immediately, peel, halve them and set aside
2. In a food processor or blender, place the cardamom, garlic, chilli and coriander and blitz as fine as you can, then drop the tomatoes in and emulsify with the mixture. Add dash of olive oil and salt and pepper to taste, whizz it one more time and set aside in bowl
3. In a blender, blitz parsley as fine as you can, add the water and pour over tahini in a bowl. Finish with a squeeze of lemon, salt and pepper.
4. Prepare your favourite side salad, we like to use chunky vegetables like tomatoes, fennel and herb.
5. Put pastry in a suitably sized frying pan with 50g vegetable oil, fry on moderate heat until golden brown then flip on other side and add oil if necessary. Lower heat then flip it once more to make sure layers are all cooked through.

Plating:

Pile your side salad in the middle of the plate, place a big dollop of the salsa and tahini on the side of your plate. Lean the pancake on either side of the salad and put 3 halves of the hard boiled egg on the bottom side of the pancake. Finish with a sprinkle of salt and pepper to taste.

TIP: You can easily wrap it like a burrito if you want it on the go or get messy with your hands (our favourite way) or serve as above for the posh version!

Recipe courtesy of Tel Aviv-inspired restaurant Bala Baya

More healthy breakfasts: Linda Tubby’s Toast, Egg & Bacon Breakfast Bites / Chestnut and almond waffles with strawberry chia jam recipe from The Good Life Eatery

5. Huevos Rancheros with Guacamole

Ingredients:

Serves 2

• 4 large handfuls of spinach, roughly chopped
• 4 eggs
• 1 large handful of fresh coriander, leaves and
• stalks roughly chopped
• 1 small handful of grated mature Cheddar

For the tomato sauce

• 1 large onion, diced
• 1 tablespoon ghee or coconut oil
• 2 garlic cloves, diced
• 2 red peppers, halved lengthways, deseeded and sliced into strips
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• A pinch of cayenne pepper or finely diced fresh red chilli, to taste
• 2 x 400g tins of tomatoes or 800g fresh tomatoes
• 200ml water (100ml if using fresh tomatoes)
• Sea salt and black pepper

For the guacamole

• 1 large ripe avocado
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• Juice of ½–1 lime
• 2 spring onions or 1 small handful of fresh
• chives, chopped
• 1 handful of fresh coriander leaves, chopped

Method

1 First make the tomato sauce. Fry the onion in the ghee or coconut oil over a medium heat for about 8minutes, stirring occasionally, until softened.

2 Add the garlic, peppers, bay leaves and spices to the pan and cook for another 2minutes.

3 Add the tomatoes and water, season generously with salt and pepper, then stir everything together and leave to simmer for 10 minutes until reduced to a thick, rich sauce.

4 Meanwhile, make the guacamole. Halve and stone the avocado, then scoop out the flesh and roughly chop. Place in a bowl and stir in all the remaining ingredients and some seasoning. Set aside.

5 Check the seasoning of the tomato sauce, adding extra salt, pepper and cayenne/chilli as needed, then stir through the spinach and cook for a few minutes until just wilted.

6 Use a spatula or spoon to make four wells in the tomato sauce mixture and crack an egg into each. The eggs will poach in the sauce and cook in about 4 minutes (lid on) for set whites and runny yolks.

7 Scatter over the coriander and cheese. Serve immediately (as the eggs will keep cooking) with big heaped spoonfuls of guacamole on top.

Extracted from Good + Simple by Jasmine and Melissa Hemsley (Ebury Press, £25). All recipes are nutrient-rich, gluten, grain and refined sugar-free.

6. Strawberry & Avocado Smoothie

Ingredients:

Serves 1

• ½ ripe avocado
• 100g/4oz (½ cup) strawberries, hulled
• 150ml/¼ pint (generous ½ cup) milk of choice, plus extra (optional)
• 5 tbsp 0% fat Greek yoghurt or Coyo
• Drizzle of honey

Method:

Cut the avocado in half, remove the stone (pit) and peel. Put the flesh in a blender with all the other ingredients and blitz until smooth. If it’s too thick for your liking, add a little more milk to get the desired consistency.

You can experiment with different fruit – mango, papaya, blueberries, raspberries, peaches, melon and even dried prunes all work well.

When making green vegetable smoothies, add a celery stick, some flat-leaf parsley, pak choi (bok choy), cucumber or some carrot juice.

To sweeten smoothies, try clear honey, agave or maple syrup, or some liquid artificial sweetener.

A pinch of ground cinnamon or some grated fresh root ginger will spice up your smoothie.

The Avocado Cookbook by Heather Thomas. (Ebury Press, £9.99)

7. Breakfast Granola by Merrilees Parker

Ingredients

Serves 4

For the granola:

100g organic bran
150g organic jumbo porridge oats
25g sesame seeds
100g walnuts
1tbsp sunflower oil
5tbsp maple syrup
100g ready-to-eat mixed fruit, such as Medjool dates and cherries

To serve:
6tbsp fresh blueberries
1 pear, cored and chopped
1 apple, cored and chopped
2 kiwis, peeled and chopped
1 tub of low-fat organic Greek yogurt, or Coyo for a dairy free alternative

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180C, Gas mark 4
2. Mix together the bran, oats, sesame seeds and walnuts in a non-stick roasting tin
3. Drizzle over the oil and maple syrup, tossing until evenly coated
4. Bake for 15-20 minutes, stirring halfway through, until crisp and crunchy. Remove from the oven and allow to cool
5. Stir the ready-to-eat fruit into the cooled granola and store in an airtight container until required. This will keep very happily for a couple of weeks
6. To serve, put a couple of heaped tablespoons of the granola into the bottom of four bowls then mix in the fresh fruit and top with the yoghurt mixture

8. Hazelnut & Raisin Energy Balls by Deliciously Ella

Makes 12 balls, perfect for healthy breakfasts on the go.

Ingredients:

 140g of roasted hazelnuts
200g of dates
1 heaped teaspoon of cinnamon
100g of raisins
1 cardamom pod
1½ tablespoons of raw cacao powder

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees (fan) and bake the hazelnuts for 10 minutes, then leave aside to cool.

Pulse half the hazelnuts in a food processor until they are broken down, then pit the dates, and add them to the food processor along with the cinnamon, cardamom, cacao and half the raisins. 

Blend until everything has mixed together and formed a nice sticky dough, then add in the remaining hazelnuts and raisins and pulse a few times to roughly chop them.

Roll the mixture into 12 equal sized balls. Place the balls in the fridge for an hour to set, then store in an airtight container in the fridge.