Does Breakfast Have to be Boring?

 [Lifestyle and Dietary]

Currently, my dietary lifestyle embodies the intersection of Paleo, gluten-free, dairy-free and organic.  So what can you have for breakfast if not Wheaties, Eggs Hollandaise, or a Belgium waffle topped with strawberries, whipped cream and syrup?

As someone who loves food, cooking, presentation, flavor, aroma and everything else about food including the nutritional and health aspects, you find yourself thinking back to the times when your were younger and much less aware and knowledgeable in this realm; ignorance truly was bliss in this regard.

Furthermore, making menu choices for yourself and your family can be so complex when you start to try to balance budget, time and effort, health, food sensitivities, medical constraints and sustainability.  To make it further challenging, my role in the food industry adds further business relationship and political complexities.  All that said, I still want to put something beautiful and delicious on the table, and I need to do so with a certain degree of economy regarding time and effort.

So, does all this amount to an extremely narrow selection of choices ultimately resulting in a bland and boring breakfast... No!  Let's take the two breakfasts in the photos presented above.  They are pretty simple, yet visually and aromatically appealing while being delicious, wholesome and in accord with my dietary and lifestyle needs and choices.

1. Grilled chicken-apple sausages, poached eggs with black pepper, sea salt and cayenne accompanied by grill-basket roasted white potatoes with garlic and onion powder, cayenne, paprika, chili powder, oregano, basil, rosemary, thyme, sage and olive oil.
2. Grilled spicy mango sausages, grilled green chili polenta seasoned with sea salt, black pepper and Emeril's southwest seasoning toped with poached eggs and Himalayan salt block roasted bell peppers, diced and laid on top of the eggs, finally, garnished with fan-cut strawberries and Italian parsley.

Both these dishes take under a half hour of effort, with the grill-roasted potatoes taking a bit longer, although very little effort.  Granted, I have been cooking for a long time, so this sort of cooking goes a bit faster if recipes are not consulted and there is plenty of multi-processing occurring.

But my real point is that no matter what your restrictions, with a little effort and creativity you can have meals that are just as appealing and satisfying in every regard as what you might find on an unrestricted menu.

Bon appétit!