Breakfast is a very important meal. A healthy, balanced breakfast with a good content of complex carbohydrates gives you a better start to the day, particularly in the case of children. It is therefore crucial not to make it a meal of white bread or sugary cereals, because these will not give you sufficient energy to see you through the morning. Instead, have something hearty, like whole grains, fruit, vegetables and eggs, which will keep hunger at bay at least until lunchtime. And on the weekend, make it into a feast and take your time over it. ALL SERVE 2
Juices
A juice is a great start to the day. If you really want to lose weight, then devoting one day a week to consuming only juice helps you to eat less and exercise meal control. It is also a helpful way to keep your weight stable. Juices can be a combination of almost all vegetables and fruit, herbs and spices. Here are just three of my favourites.
Super green
700g cucumber
1 lime
400g apple (or alternatively, pineapple) 4-6 sprigs of tarragon
Wash the cucumber, cut away the green peel and white pith of the lime, and, if using pineapple, core it and cut away the peel of. Put the cucumber, lime flesh, apple or pineapple and tarragon in a juicer and juice until smooth. Serve right away or keep cold in the refrigerator.
My favourite red
500g beetroot
700g carrot
20g fresh turmeric
2 celery sticks
Peel the beetroot, carrot and turmeric. Put the beetroot, carrot, turmeric and celery in a juicer and juice until smooth. Serve right away or keep cold in the refrigerator.
Popeye’s energy drink
500g spinach
400g Galia melon
1 lemon
Rinse the spinach in cold water, cut away the peel of the melon and deseed it, then cut the flesh into chunks, and cut away the yellow peel and white pith of the lemon. Put the spinach, melon and lemon flesh in a juicer and juice until smooth. Serve right away or keep cold in the refrigerator.
Smoothies
These make super-fast and great breakfasts. All sorts of smoothies can be made easily, you just need a blender, frozen or fresh fruit, fruit juice or low-fat yoghurt and some honey, then mix these any way you like to create your favourite smoothie. ALL SERVE 2
Redcurrant smoothie
300g fresh or frozen redcurrants 1 banana, peeled 100ml redcurrant cordial
300ml low-fat yoghurt honey, to sweeten (optional) handful of ice cubes (if using fresh fruit)
Place all the ingredients in a blender and blend. Taste and sweeten with honey if you like. Serve right away in tall glasses.
Blueberry smoothie
300g blueberries
100ml apple juice
1 banana, peeled
300ml low-fat yoghurt
10 ice cubes
honey, to sweeten (optional)
Place all the ingredients in a blender and blend. Taste and adjust the sweetness with some honey if you like. Serve right away in tall glasses.
Strawberry and raspberry smoothie
300g fresh or frozen strawberries and raspberries
1 banana, peeled
100ml orange juice
500ml low-fat yoghurt
honey, to sweeten (optional)
handful of ice cubes (if using fresh fruit)
Place all the ingredients in a blender and blend. Taste and sweeten with honey if you like. Serve right away in tall glasses.
Raw oats with fruit and milk in summer
This was my childhood breakfast, and I still eat this most mornings. Sometimes I mix in rye and spelt flakes, so that it is not just oats. I always eat organic flakes with skimmed milk and then whatever fruit I have in the house.
60g raw rolled oats
50g redcurrants
6 raspberries
200ml skimmed milk
Add the oats to a serving bowl as a little mountain in the middle. Place the fruit around the oats, pour the milk over everything and eat right away.
SERVES 1
TIP The rolled oats can be replaced with 2 WeetaBix.
VARIATION For a winter version of this, you can replace the berries with 50g diced apple and 20g seedless raisins.
Ollebr0d (Rye and beer porridge)
One of my favourite types of porridge, I had this for both breakfast and dinner when I was a child and my parents were students on a budget. This is true comfort food and whenever I make it, I am instantly transported back to my childhood.
300g rye bread, preferably stale
800ml water
1 tsp grated unwaxed lemon zest
2-3 tbsp lemon juice
200ml light Pilsner or alcohol-free beer
100g brown sugar
cold skimmed milk, to serve
The day before, place the bread in a bowl, cover with the 800ml water, and leave
The next day, place the contents of the bowl in a pan and slowly bring to the boil. Stir well, add the lemon zest, beer and sugar, boil, and keep stirring for 5 minutes.
Serve warm with cold skimmed milk.
SERVES 2-3
TIP If you serve this as a dessert, accompany it with whipped cream.
Spelt pancakes with blueberries
Spelt has a lovely sweet taste which works really well with breakfast pancakes. The benefit of using spelt is that you get more fibre, because it’s a wholegrain flour and therefore you’re consuming slow carbs.
2 eggs
400ml buttermilk 1 vanilla pod
200g wholegrain stoneground spelt flour
100g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
V tsp bicarbonate of soda
1V tsp coarse sea salt
300g fresh blueberries
75g butter, for frying
runny honey or syrup, to serve
To make the pancake batter, beat the eggs together in a large mixing bowl. Add the buttermilk and beat again. Split the vanilla pod lengthwise and scrape out the seeds with the tip of a knife. Mix the vanilla seeds, flours, bicarbonate of soda and salt together, then add to the egg mixture and beat again until smooth. Mix in 125g of the blueberries.
Melt a little butter in a frying pan and, using a soup spoon, place 3 separate spoonfuls in the pan so that you fry 3 small round pancakes at a time, turning them gently once, until nicely browned on both sides. Keep each batch warm under a tea towel while you cook the rest.
Serve right away, topped with more fresh blueberries and honey or syrup.
SERVES 4 (12 PANCAKES)
TIP If you want to lose weight, eat one pancake with 100g fruit as your weekend treat, but don’t add any honey or syrup.
Smorrebrod (open sandwiches on rye bread)
These easy and healthy breakfast ideas also make perfect snacks at any time during the day. If you are aiming to lose weight, it is very important to eat small meals during the day so that your blood sugar levels do not drop drastically, causing you to go for a high-sugar quick fix like a chocolate bar. In the strawberry season, the perfect afternoon snack is a strawberry ‘madder’, a piece of rye bread with a very simple topping. BOTH SERVE 2.
Rye bread with strawberries
200g strawberries
2 slices of rye bread
Cut the strawberries in half, then place them on rye bread and eat right away.
VARIATION Mash some raspberries gently and spread out evenly on a piece of rye bread like jam, and you have the perfect summer ‘mad’.
Rye bread, cottage cheese, herbs and vegetables
200g cottage cheese
2 tbsp chopped chives
2 tomatoes, deseeded and cut into small dice
V3 cucumber, halved, deseeded and cut into small dice
salt flakes and freshly ground pepper
2 slices of rye bread
Place the cottage cheese in a bowl and mix with the other ingredients except the seasoning and the bread. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Place on top of the slices of rye bread and serve right away.
Eggs on rye toast with spinach
During weekends, when we have enough time to enjoy a long breakfast, I cook a meal that is more time-consuming and eat it with my husband while we relax and enjoy reading the newspapers. Eggs are a real treat, they are easy to digest and they give a fantastic boost to start your metabolism in the morning.
1kg fresh spinach
salt and freshly ground pepper
4 slices of rye bread
8 organic eggs
50ml skimmed milk
1 tbsp rapeseed oil
10 wild garlic leaves, or chives or spring onion greens, chopped 10 cherry tomatoes, diced
Start by preparing the spinach: remove any tough stems from the leaves and rinse 3 or 4 times in cold water. Drain in a colander.
Wilt the spinach in a sauté pan for 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, then drain in a colander again.
Put the bread to toast.
Mix the eggs in a bowl, beat them for 1 minute, then beat in the milk. Season the mixture. Add the oil to the sauté pan, heat gently then pour the egg mixture into the pan. Add the leaves, chives or greens, lower the heat, and cook gently. Just before the eggs start to set, add the tomatoes.
Place a slice of rye toast on each plate, divide the spinach between them, then add the eggs, sprinkle with pepper and serve right away. SERVES 4
Soft-boiled egg with toasted rye bread and smoked salmon
Boiling eggs is a mystery. It takes training and concentration, and it is unbelievable that something so simple goes wrong so frequently. Often – and therefore most likely – we don’t know how old our eggs are, and fresh eggs take a bit longer to cook than those that are a week old. The size of the eggs also matters. All in all, if you are a newcomer to the art of boiling eggs, just practise and you will learn eventually.
2 large organic eggs
2 slices of rye bread
4 slices of smoked salmon
a little handful of watercress to serve
coarse sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Place the eggs in a small pan with just enough cold water to cover. Bring to the boil, lower the heat and let it simmer gently for 3 minutes.
While the eggs are cooking, toast the rye bread and place the salmon on a small plate. Place the watercress on top of that and sprinkle with pepper. When the eggs are cooked, rinse them under cold running water. Drain and place them in egg cups.
Serve with the smoked salmon and rye bread on the side. SERVES 2
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