Breakfast - A crucial and Healthy start to the day

 

Breakfast in a Bowl: Healthy Start to a Day

These magic bowls can include almost any ingredient. Here’s what’s driving the trend of revamping the concept of breakfast and health.

Breakfast is the first important meal of the day, that fuels your body with energy essential to begin your day. And the newest trend of Breakfast Bowls offers just that, your entire breakfast canine a bowl, much more than just cereals. Not only are these colorful bowls eye-catching, convenient, and versatile but they also serve as a platform to get multiple sources of nutrients in one bowl.

Why are they in trend?

Breakfast bowls have become a successful trend and here are a few reasons.

They are made attractive filled with colourful fresh fruits, nuts and seeds, eggs, and other delicious options to make them enticing to eat.
Breakfast bowls provide a well-balanced and varied meal inclusive of numerous food groups such as whole grains, fruit, veggies, nuts, beans, and seeds like flax seeds, chia.
Breakfast bowls can be customized to meet special dietary needs like allergy, low sugar, or for those who follow a vegan or vegetarian diet or have other special needs. 
One can experiment with new ingredients and foods such as adding quinoa or barley to the bowl.
Breakfast bowls are a convenient and healthy option to charge yourself when you have a busy morning.
It is the solution that every mother seeks when they deal with fussy eaters. Offer your child healthy options to fill the bowl and decorate it with toppings of their choice.

 

Nutritional Benefits

The various benefits include 

A breakfast bowl that offers a bowl full of ample nutrients, including proteins, vitamins, carbohydrates, fiber, and healthy fats. 
You can pack each bowl with small portions of foods ranging from fiber-rich whole grains and proteins to vitamin-rich sources, ensuring a healthy start to your day.
Adding protein sources such as eggs, yogurt, cottage cheese, tofu, beans, nuts, or protein powder keeps you full for longer as protein takes longer to digest.
Helps to increase consumption of both fruits and vegetables and potentially increase vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and phytochemical consumption.

 

 

Breakfast bowls can also be unhealthy

Consuming large portions, overfilling the bowl. 
Omit certain nutrients when you choose just one food group to fill up the bowl which leads to a low intake of nutrients from other food groups.
Extra added sugars.
High saturated fat levels when you are not careful about what goes into a bowl-like extra cheese, extra butter.

So it’s important to be mindful about the ingredients and the portion size in a breakfast bowl.

Types of Breakfast Bowls 

A few popular breakfast bowls present on menu cards in restaurants and cafes include Buddha Bowl, Smoothie Bowl, or Chia Bowl. And you can prepare them at home using your imagination and creativity for a great morning.

 

Buddha Bowl 

Based on the Buddhist philosophy of eating mindfully, the Buddha Bowl is all about being fresh, delicious, versatile, and healthy. The basic Buddha Bowl consists of a grain, a green and a bean which provides you complete proteins. 

 

Smoothie Bowl 

A favourite among most of us! Smoothie in a bowl offers more toppings and variety. Create a smoothie bowl with a mixture of fruits or vegetables, topped with delicious and healthy ingredients such as fruit pieces, herbs, nuts, seeds, etc. without added sugar or ice cream.

 

Chia Bowl 

Chia seeds are packed with nutrients. A breakfast bowl with this superfood gives you a healthy kick to start the day. To prepare a Chia Bowl, the seeds are soaked in milk, giving them a pudding-like consistency and topped with fruits.

 

 

The Takeaway

Breakfast bowls, beautifully presented with ingredients, packed with nutrients, make these bowls a favorite breakfast option as they can be personalized with ingredients of your choice. It is a convenient choice for people with a busy schedule who have no time or desire to plan an elaborate meal. This all-in-one wellness bowl is the perfect solution to meet all their nutrient requirement. But be aware of the ingredients that go into the bowl.

 

An Instance of complete breakfast bowl 

Savoury Chia Oats Bowl (Serves 4)

An all-in-one breakfast bowl filled with flavours and nutrients to make you ready for the day!

Ingredients

1 cup steel cut oats
1 tbsp. chia seeds
¼ cup coarse flax seed meal
2 cups water
1 tbsp. olive or coconut oil 
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 cup tricolor sweet peppers, chopped
¼ cup green peas
1 Jalapeño, deseeded and chopped
4-5 curry leaves 
1 tsp cumin seeds (jeera) 
½ tsp turmeric powder  
1-inch ginger minced
½ lemon juiced
coriander leaves, finely chopped, and cashews (broken) for garnish
Salt and pepper per taste

 

Method

Heat a deep pan, add oil. When the oil is warm, add cumin seeds. 
Add chopped onion, jalapeño slices, minced ginger and curry leaves. Stir well for a couple of minutes. 
Add bell peppers, peas, and oats. Stir well. Let it toast for 3-4 minutes.
Add Chia seeds, turmeric, and water. Add salt and pepper as per taste and mix well.
Bring the water to a boil. Reduce the heat. 
Cover the pot with a lid and let it cook for 10-12 minutes while stirring occasionally.
When water evaporates, turn off the heat. Mix in flax seeds meal. 
Stir well so all the cooked ingredients are mixed well. Squeeze lemon juice.
Transfer the contents to a bowl and garnish with coriander leaves and cashews. Serve warm.

Nutritional Information (per serving)

 

Energy	221 kcal
Carbohydrates	33 gms
Protein	6 gms
Fat	7 gm
Fiber	6 gms