Breakfast Salad is the Best Way to Kick-start Your Day

Breakfast salads are trending in menus across Australia and our top chefs, nutritionists and bloggers Sam Gowing, Shan Cooper, Jessica Cox and Dominique Rizzo tell us their top 5 reasons why a breakfast salad is the way to go to kick-start your day.

Chef Dominique Rizzo

Ramp up your day with Breakfast Salad – 5 tips on how and why

1. Full of vitamins and minerals that you need, so instead of taking a multi-vitamin, change up your breakfast with spinach, mushrooms, carrots, sprouts, snow peas. Anything you like can be incorporated into your breakfast, just add some fabulous protein: eggs, salmon, bacon, chicken, tuna or ham; tofu is a great option for vegans.
2. My other top tip, is that it allows you to eat a healthy breakfast and an array of vegetables giving you an early start on eating the recommended 5 cups of vegetables per day. Start with 2 cups of vegies salad greens and even fruit into your daily diet at breakfast
3. Breakfast salad doesn’t have to be complicated – I’m thinking of steamed broccoli, sautéed mushrooms, sprinkling of feta, adding in some Halloumi, or even some wonderful kelp noodles. Any of these combinations makes a wonderful alternative to standard sugary breakfast foods, or a dry piece of toast or something that you may pick up on your way to work.
4. Filling up on all the good things, keeps hunger away, keeps your blood sugars level avoiding a massive high after drinking some sweet fruit juice. Best of all breakfast salads keep you sustained especially, if you are like me, you often don’t have time for lunch or dinner later in the day.
5. Step outside your culinary repertoire; incorporate so many seasonal salad varieties and serve in so many different ways – on a wooden board, on a platter, in a bowl!

For more tips from Dominique, press play below.

Chef Sam Gowing

5 reasons why breakfast salad is the best way to kick-start your day!

Chef Sam Gowing’s breakfast salad of raw almond feta salad with spicy tamari maple sunflower seeds & buckwheat
1. The perfect kick-start to a great day, or use it as health insurance in case the rest of my day goes pear shaped.
2. Load your salad with lots of extra goodies such as avocado or protein of your liking – cured ocean trout would be great with this.
3. Top with a natural breakfast topper, which are readily available in good food stores.
4. Guaranteed to amp up your nutrient density for the day and give you those all important essential fatty acids and brain boosting protein kick-start.
5. Eating something that is visually appealing, pretty on the plate will set your senses up with such a great day ahead. Take the time to appreciate the art on your plate.
Remember digestion starts with the eyes!

My Food Religion, Shan Cooper

5 reasons why I love breakfast salad:

1. There’s no such thing as ‘breakfast food’, there’s just food. Salads are an awesome way to pack a nutritional punch for your first meal of the day.
2. They are an awesome way to get a great balance of fats, protein & carbs to kick start your day.
3. I find starting my day with a salad means I am far less likely to make less nutritional food choices later in the day because I have started so well.
4. What an awesome way to add some extra GREENS to your life!
5. Salads are not only so versatile and easy to throw together but they travel well for a great brekkie on the run!

Jessica Cox Nutritionist

And my 5 reasons why breakfast salad rocks your day!

Here is my breakfast salad: Brown rice & chia sourdough topped w salad of spinach, rocket, dill, tarragon and avocado + smoked salmon, fried egg, macadamia nut butter.

1. Breakfast salads are a wonderful way to get more fresh vegetables into your daily intake. Including them at breakfast often means we get vegetables three times a day, instead of just once or twice with lunch and dinner.
2. Breakfast salads are a fabulous way to include fresh herbs in your food intake. Fresh herbs are an abundant source of antioxidants and potent phytochemicals that have a plethora of beneficial health benefits.
3. Including a breakfast salad in your repertoire provides diversity! We all love a smoothie and a grain based cereal mix, but its great to mix it up and keep our food exciting!
4. Salads are also a ingenious way to let seasonal produce shine. Use whats in season to create combinations that you can enjoy with some added protein, quality fats and complex carbs.
5. Don’t be shy on mixing fruit and salad produce together! Think a massaged kale salad with fresh strawberries and feta, or a spinach salad with pear and walnuts. Salads are so much more than lettuce and tomato.