Some say it’s the most important meal of the day (those same folk think one should eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a pauper). Others find skipping breakfast a useful strategy for weight loss. You’ll find scientists who think it’s over-rated and scientists who think it is vital.
Perhaps Winnie the Pooh had the right idea. A conversation he has with Piglet in one of A. A. Milne’s much-loved books goes like this:
‘When you wake up in the morning, Pooh,’ said Piglet at last, ‘what’s the first thing you say to yourself?’
‘What’s for breakfast?’ said Pooh. ‘What do you say, Piglet?’
‘I say, I wonder what’s going to happen exciting today?’ said Piglet.
Pooh nodded thoughtfully. ‘It’s the same thing,’ he said.
One thing is for sure: if you are going to eat breakfast, there is no need for it ever to be boring. Check out these breakfasts and begin your day with a bang.
Main image: Amelia Freer
Rosemary Ferguson’s Garlicky Mushrooms With Fresh Parsley And Oregano
These exquisite mushrooms would perk up the dreariest piece of toast – but for a real treat, match them with the finest sourdough you can. The recipe oozes with flavour but is also practically medicinal, containing selenium, Vitamin B and plenty of antimicrobials. Get the recipe here.
Felicity Cloake’s Eggs Royale
This one may be sumptuously old school – it contains dairy and gluten and only a smidgen of optional spinach – but it’s pretty hard to beat. In it, silky hollandaise sauce dribbles over poached eggs on toasted English muffin halves. We particularly like the recommendation at the end of the recipe for a complementary bottle of fizz. Now that’s what we call a good breakfast. Get the recipe here.
Deliciously Ella’s American Fluffy Pancakes
Healthy living aficionado Ella Mills is a big fan of breakfast and has in her armoury of talents the ability to get plants into little people. In stuffing these pancakes with almond milk, blueberries and chia seeds, she has created a nutritious masterpiece that the whole family will find delicious. Get the recipe here.
Bill Granger’s Perfect Scrambled Eggs
Hands up anyone who has ever actually followed a recipe for scrambled eggs? Well, you will never look back once you have followed this one, which involves single cream. Yes, you read that correctly. Pay close attention to Granger’s instructions a. not to let the butter colour and b. to let the eggs sit at various points in the process. Get the recipe here.
Amelia Freer’s Favourite Breakfast
We hang onto nutritionist Amelia Freer’s every word, so her favourites will always be winners in our eyes. In this recipe, she piles soft-boiled eggs, sauerkraut, avocado, cherry tomatoes, seeds and chilli flakes onto a couple of slices of good bread – and, voila, breakfast is served. Get the recipe here.
Nigel Slater’s Blackberry, Apple And Kefir Muffins
Bursting with goodness and just enough sweetness, these muffins have brightened many a bleak morning. The idea of eating them within minutes of them coming out of the oven – as Slater suggests we should – is about as tempting and wholesome as can be. Get the recipe here.
Anna Jones’s Malted Chocolate Buckwheat Granola
If you cannot kick your sugary cereal habit, this inspired recipe is for you. Anna Jones is very clever at coming up with healthy alternatives to our unhealthiest cravings. Here, she combines oats, buckwheat, chia seeds, pecans, dry fruit, cocoa powder and maple syrup in a mixture from heaven. Get the recipe here.
Gwyneth Paltrow’s Eggs In Purgatory
This one-pot dish of eggs, chilli, tomatoes and chard looks so pretty and festive, you won’t believe it’s only breakfast. It’s a great one to whip up if you have guests staying because it looks as though you’ve made a huge effort when in reality it couldn’t be easier. Get the recipe here.
Jamie Oliver’s Ultimate Bacon Sarnie
In the matter of old favourites like the bacon sandwich, it can be illuminating to take advice from the experts. You think you know how to throw some rashers between some bits of bread, right? But Jamie Oliver’s rules may never have occurred to you: the bacon must be smoked, the bread must be untoasted and white and the only condiment allowed is brown sauce. Give it a go. Get the recipe here.
The Wolseley’s Omelette Arnold Bennett
This exquisitely refined breakfast comes from an exquisitely refined restaurant. The Arnold Bennett – named after the novelist in the 1920s by the head chef at The Savoy – is as rich and luxurious as omelettes come, with the smoked mackerel and chives elevating it beyond its normal French bistro habitat. Get the recipe here.
By Becky Ladenburg
May 2021
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