Day 1: Vegetables with Breakfast Challenge

Welcome to Day 1 of the Vegetables with Breakfast Challenge.

Some of you may be reading this while still in bed, curled up in your blankets and thinking about your day. For others of you, the day is already in full swing. Either way, I hope I have inspired you to join me and millions of people around the world who already eat vegetables with their breakfast every day. It is possible that through committing to 10 days in a row of eating vegetables with your breakfast, you will feel better and create a lifelong change.

For Day 1, Let’s start with a super simple way to cook your vegetables. I eat my breakfast vegetables this way at least four mornings per week. From a food energetics perspective, this cooking style is perfect for the kind of upward moving energy we need to have for starting our day. Vegetables cooked this way are also reputed to help with sugar cravings. Blanching is also a wonderful way to cook your greens. I think the greens become more tender than with steaming.

green cabbage, cauliflower, carrot
green cabbage, cauliflower, carrot

I have posted about this Blanched Vegetable Salad in the past, but now I am going to nudge, poke, prod you to try it tomorrow morning. I’ll make it really easy:

  1.  Wash and cut three different types of vegetables. You want the vegetables to be bite size and small enough that they will cook quickly. Slice carrots or any root vegetables fairly thin, green beans are fine already, small broccoli florettes, etc.
  2. Bring a medium size pot with about 3″ water to a boil, then lower the flame to medium. Drop each vegetable in separately and quickly pull it out as soon as it turns bright. Place them on a plate and spread them out so they don’t continue to cook. Wait for the water to boil again before adding the next vegetable.
  3.  The goal is for the water to stop boiling as soon as you add the vegetable and then not come back to a boil until after you take it out. The vegetables should still have an audible crunch.
  4. Add a little sprinkle of lemon juice or brown rice vinegar if desired.

Things you can do the night before:

  • Wash and cut your vegetables. 1 cup for each person doing the challenge.
  • Set a medium size pot on the stove with 3″ of water in it.
  • Make a dressing if you think you might need it. You can try my Tahini Sauce or your favorite dressing. However, I  encourage you to try the vegetables without a dressing and really enjoy the taste of these vegetables as is. They are very refreshing.
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kinpira and a cracked grain porridge

This morning I ate:  Leftover quinoa cooked in a little extra water, leftover kinpira made with carrot, daikon, lotus root and onion and turnip roots and tops.

What did you eat for breakfast this morning?

For more information about the challenge, you can also go here.