Sweet potato, kale and eggs breakfast

Black or Lacinato Kale

By Cat, Jan 2016 (Photo, right, from from Incredible Seeds)

See also: 1. Breakfast & Brunch Menu; 2. Ancient Medicine through Food

What do you like to eat for breakfast? Perhaps a bowl of cereal or oatmeal? A piece of toast? Some fruit? A smoothie? Or the old traditional farm breakfast of eggs, bacon (or ham or sausage), fried potatoes, toast and jam?

However, with the exception of a colorful fruit and/or veggie protein smoothie, these breakfast options don’t provide a broad spectrum of micro- and phyto-nutrients nutrients. Why not give this amazing breakfast a try, one of these weekends?

Today’s featured article in the Learning Herbs newsletter (1) is about getting enough micro- and phyto-nutrients from whole foods in your daily diet (not from supplements), with a sample recipe which I have adapted below. For more on nutrients in whole foods, see my article: Ancient Medicine through Food, and/or the Learning Herbs article (2)

The Learning Herbs article makes an important and revealing comparison of micro- and photo- nutrients (2):

“When thinking about micronutrients, we need to think about getting enough of one food to give us adequate amounts of each nutrient. … When thinking about getting enough phytonutrients in our diet, it’s less about getting enough of one plant and more about getting a little bit of a wide diversity of plants.”

To get enough of these nutrients in your diet, be sure to consume from each whole food category every day, and eat a wide variety of these foods from day to day:

• plant or animal protein foods,
• plant or animal fats or fatty foods,
• whole-grains, nuts and seeds
• colorful vegetables,
• colorful fruits,
• herbs and spices

The following breakfast recipe and serving suggestions includes all of the above.

 Sweet potato, kale and eggs breakfast

This vegetarian (but not vegan) recipe serves 2 – 4, and is elegant enough for a breakfast party or brunch.

Ingredients & Equipment

• ½ onion, sliced
• 3 or more cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 medium sweet potato, cut into ¼ inch rounds then cubed
• pinch nutmeg (optional)
• 1 tsp thyme
• 1 tsp rosemary
• ½ tsp unrefined sea salt
• 2 Tbsp olive oil, divided
• 3 – 5 leaves of kale, chopped well
• 2 – 4 farm fresh eggs from pastured hens
• 1 Tbsp olives, minced (especially brined, rather than canned olives)
• 2 Tbsp sun dried tomatoes, minced  (for convenience, buy these in a jar)
• black pepper, preferably whole, to be ground just prior to serving
• Garnish options:
• Colorful fresh fruit of the season, served in bite-size pieces; choose from apple, pear, grapes, blueberries, raspberries, orange or tangerine segments, cantaloupe, watermelon, banana, papaya, peach, plum, apricot,  etc..
• Nuts
• Sour cream
• Equipment:
• Oven-proof, heavy-bottomed skillet such as a cast iron skillet, with a lid (or improvise a lid with aluminum foil or a cookie sheet)
• small bowls

Method:

1. Prep: Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Slice the onion crosswise; mince the garlic and set these aside.
3. Dice the sweet potato; wash, rinse and chop the kale and set these aside, separately.
4. Mince the olives and sundried tomato and set aside in a small bowl.
5. Set aside the herbs, salt, and nutmeg (if using).
6. Cook: Place 1 Tbsp of olive oil in skillet with a lid. Add the onions and garlic, stir well to coat the onions with oil.
7. Place in small bowl: 1 Tbsp olive oil, the cubed potatoes, herbs and salt. Stir/toss well to coat. Add this to the skillet, leaving the onions on the bottom of the pan (otherwise they may burn).
8. Bake, uncovered, for 30 minutes or until the potatoes are cooked through.
9. Add the chopped kale. Stir well. Continue to bake uncovered for 5 minutes or until the kale is gently wilted.
10. Add the cracked eggs individually to the pan. Top with the olives and tomatoes. Lightly salt the eggs.
11. Cook, covered, for an additional 7-8 minutes or until the eggs are cooked to your preference.
12. Finish and serve: Remove from oven; lightly dust with freshly ground pepper. Serve immediately, garnishing each plate with fruit and/or nuts. Pass sour cream for those who wish to add it.

References

1. learningherbs.com
2. Healthy Breakfast: Sweet Potatoes, Kale and Eggs – LearningHerbs recipe, Copyright © 2016 LearningHerbs. ( learningherbs.com/newsletter/healthy-breakfast-recipe