Five Ways to Build a Better Breakfast

Interesting breakfast doesn’t have to take much extra time, though some pre-planning the night before does help. Whether you need to break your breakfast rut or add variety to back-to-school breakfasts, check out these five simple steps to building a better breakfast!

5 Ways to Build a Better Breakfast

1. Overnight Oats. Among some of my friends, overnight oats enjoy a near cult following. As explained on Kath Eats Real Food, overnight oats involve no cooking at all — simply combine oats with equal parts milk and/or yogurt and store them in the fridge overnight. The next morning, top them with fruit and something crunchy and you won’t be hungry again for hours. (The variations are endless!)
2. Savory Scones. In one of my more enjoyable graduate school courses, the professor had both a sweet tooth and serious baking skill. I wanted to join the fun (and, honestly, show off a little bit), so I made a triple-batch of scones. Between the cranberry orange, the fresh blackberry/almond and the sun-dried tomato/cheddar options, I was astonished to find that the savory scones were nearly everyone’s favorite. Try adding bacon (with cheddar or dates) or, as The New York Time’s Melissa Clark’s Good Appetite column suggests, onions, currants and caraway.

3. Smoked Salmon. Smoked salmon is a lean, delicious way to add protein to your morning meal. It’s not the most economical thing in the grocery, but I have found that a little 8-ounce package of smoked salmon trim goes a long way. Put it on a sesame seed bagel with veggie cream cheese; wrap it in a tortilla with dill cream cheese, cucumbers and capers; and for lunch, layer it on top of a salad for a sweet, smoky topping.
4. Homemade Granola. Home-baked granola is so ridiculously easy to make (and so much better than the store-bought stuff) that you’ll wonder why you waited so long to try it. I got started with the encouragement of wonderful “Orangette” blogger and author of “A Homemade Life,” Molly Wizenberg, and hers is the one I still use (as printed in Bon Appetit). I also like this heavier one in Ina Garten’s marvelous “Barefoot Contessa Cookbook.”
5. Eggs to Change Your Life.  Finally, the weekend! If I have any extra time at all in the morning, I immediately gravitate toward these eggs. (recipe in Leite’s Culinaria). Whisked with creme fraiche and cooked over very low heat for at least 10 minutes, these “goopy” eggs (as my husband calls them) are silky, rich and luxurious. I adore eggs fried and sunny-side up and poached, but I cannot stop making them this way, for breakfast (and dinner, and a mid-day weekend snack). I blame Amanda Hesser, who published the recipe I use in Cooking for Mr. Latte.
If you need more inspiration, check out some boards on Pinterest, or just browse the waffles, omelets and pancakes at The Food Network and get excited again about the first meal of the day.
What do you do to build a better breakfast?

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