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Cooking Challenge: A late-riser tries to make breakfast every day for a week

 
Fluffy buttermilk pancakes with melted butter and warm maple syrup are the perfect Saturday morning breakfast.
Fluffy buttermilk pancakes with melted butter and warm maple syrup are the perfect Saturday morning breakfast.
Published Aug. 4, 2017

I am not a breakfast person.

Let me clarify: I love breakfast food. Fluffy buttermilk pancakes? Brioche French toast? Buttery English scones? I could eat them all day. But for a night owl like me, rising early, preparing food and consuming it before work or other activities is almost impossible. I imagine some of you can relate.

For me, most breakfasts consist of a packaged yogurt, swallowed five minutes before I rush out the door. Recently, I purchased a bottle of Siggi's Drinkable Yogurt. I've actually become too lazy to chew.

This has to stop.

My challenge: I will cook — and eat — breakfast every morning this week. That means rising early enough to actually enjoy the first meal of the day. Wolfing down a snack is out of the question; I am only allowed to make one drinkable meal. I think I've found five solid go-to recipes for those of us who can't bring ourselves to cook right after we wake up.

SUNDAY: Burrata Avocado Toast

Does it count as breakfast if you eat it at 2 p.m.?

I intend to start my week right. I even select the perfect Sunday morning recipe: buttermilk pancakes. Instead, I sleep until 10 a.m., down a yogurt and rush out the door to an appointment.

By the time I eat an actual meal, it's way past lunch.

Instead of the buttermilk pancakes, I prepare burrata avocado toast. It takes less than 10 minutes, with virtually no cleanup. That makes it a perfect breakfast meal if you're a late-riser like me.

Since the toast is slathered in burrata cheese, topped with avocados and tomatoes, then drizzled in balsamic glaze, you need a thick slab of bread to absorb the various juices. I didn't feel like tracking down the artisan bread that the recipe called for (see above: I'm lazy), so I substituted a whole wheat bagel. I also used extra-virgin olive oil instead of a balsamic glaze.

The result? Amazing. Peppery olive oil complements the sweet creaminess of burrata and the richness of diced avocados. It's both healthy and satisfying.

I eat it again for dinner.

MONDAY: Quinoa Breakfast Cereal

Here's how I imagine people who eat breakfast quinoa: Before the sun rises, they strap on a pair of bright running shoes and train for a triathlon. When they come home, they eat their quinoa cereal, lift an absurd amount of weights and take a cold shower. Then they go to their 9 a.m. jobs.

Quinoa: the superhero's breakfast.

That's what I tell myself while my quinoa boils on the stove. It smells disturbingly like asparagus cooking. I like asparagus, but I don't want to eat asparagus cereal. As I stir, my wooden spoon uncovers something that looks like a sloughed-off snakeskin. Burnt milk? My boyfriend, Ben, advises me to toss the entire batch. We start over.

This time, the milk bubbles over. There is a reason I don't cook before noon.

Once again, the sloughed-off snake skin oozes to the surface. Since we've used up all our quinoa, we can't start over, so we attempt to pick it out. "I worry that if we keep stirring out the snake skin, we won't have any food," Ben says. It's a legitimate fear.

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Even with three generous tablespoons of brown sugar, the cereal has an unappetizingly green flavor — like "horse food," my mom says. The round beads of quinoa remind me of beige caviar.

I choke down all of it, because I'm hoping it gives me powers.

It does not.

I make a burrata bagel.

TUESDAY: Yogurt

I gulp down a coconut yogurt and race out the door.

Hello, failure, my old friend.

WEDNESDAY: Mango Buttermilk Smoothie

Ripe mango lends tropical tanginess to a light and refreshing drink. I actually exercise before work. Forget quinoa — this smoothie must be superhero food.

I also like that it's drinkable.

THURSDAY: Tropical Fruit Salad

I have to confess: I made this at 9 p.m., rather than 9 a.m. What can I say? I may have broken my own rules, but breakfast food eaten at night tastes so much better. (For my actual breakfast, I scarfed down a slab of tasteless peanut butter toast.)

If you've never eaten coconut chips on a pineapple and strawberry salad, you're in for a treat. This recipe tastes like an island paradise. My only regret is that I accidentally put in way too much lime juice, which made the salad taste a little more like a margarita than I had anticipated. Another tip: While preparing the salad, resist the urge to stick your tongue in the shell of a juiced lime. It does not taste good, and your tongue will burn for an hour. In the future, I would make this salad again, but with much less lime juice and an addition of honey, to sweeten it.

FRIDAY: Avocado Bagel

There is no burrata this time, as I have eaten it all. This is simply an avocado unceremoniously smashed onto a bagel.

It's not a yogurt, so I'm counting it as a win.

SATURDAY: Perfect Buttermilk Pancakes

It's the perfect Saturday morning breakfast: fluffy buttermilk pancakes with melted butter, drizzled in warm maple syrup. They're rich, yet light. I ate my first pancake straight off the frying pan, sans butter or syrup, and it was the best I've ever tasted. Plus, I managed to cook this before noon. Triumph!

THE VERDICT

Here's what I learned from my week of breakfasts: You have to set achievable goals. Although the buttermilk pancakes were the best recipe, I'll be most likely to remake the Burrata Avocado Toast, because it was both delicious and easy. If you're a late-riser, you don't have to cook yourself something fancy to enjoy a good breakfast. Just find recipes that take less than 10 minutes to make, and set yourself up for success.

Also, it's okay to treat yourself to a classic breakfast. Even if quinoa is a superfood, I'd choose fluffy pancakes every time.

Contact Emily Young at emilyyoungfreelancing@gmail.com.