Name: Savory Breakfast Salad with Blueberries and Sweet Potato
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 30 min
Cuisine: Local
Ingredients: 1 large sweet potato, peeled and diced into 1/2-inch cubes; 1/2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil; Pinch each sea salt and freshly ground black pepper; 1 large bunch kale; 3/4 cup blueberries; 2 tbsp hemp hearts/hulled hemp seeds (same thing); 2 eggs, cooked in your preferred way (fried/poached/scrambled) //OR 1/2 batch of tempeh bacon*; 1½ tbsp flax seed oil; 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar; 1 tsp pure maple syrup; 1 tsp grainy mustard; 1/4 tsp fine sea salt; 20 twists black pepper; 2 cloves garlic, minced

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Welcome to Day 4 of the July Salad a Day Challenge! Today, we have a savory breakfast salad recipe with kale, blueberries, hemp, roasted sweet potato, and a flax oil/apple cider vinegar dressing. For protein, you can serve this salad with a fried egg or two, or if you are vegan, you can serve it with the tempeh bacon from my BLT Salad recipe, baked tofu, or perhaps some sprouted grain toast spread with tahini, sunflower seed butter, or cashew cheese.

Have you ever eaten salad for breakfast? No? As someone who’s traditionally enjoyed breakfasts on the sweeter side of the flavour spectrum (toast with nut butter and banana, smoothie bowls, overnight oats with berries, etc. are among my favourite morning meals), I wasn’t initially convinced that I would hop on the ‘salad for breakfast’ train, either.

But after creating this recipe, I think I’m a convert, and perhaps you will be, too! The benefits of savory breakfasts are myriad, but include:

-Getting a hefty dose of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants first thing in the morning
-Feeling satisfied for longer due to the healthy fat/protein combination
-Balanced blood sugar because you are supplying your body with a steady-burning fuel supply all morning long

A Savory Breakfast Salad for that Summer Glow

Enjoying a salad for breakfast during the summer is a great way to ensure that you are getting all of the nutrients and antioxidants you need for glowing skin, thick hair, and strong nails.

I’ve included both sweet potato and eggs in this recipe not only for their flavour, but for their biotin content! Biotin, or vitamin B7, is often taken in supplemental form to strengthen hair, skin, and nails: low biotin levels can cause brittle nails, thinning hair, and rashes. However, why take biotin pills when it is abundant in whole foods? Additionally, sweet potatoes contain beta carotene, which may add a warm glow to our skin while also boosting our eye health.

Blueberries are another key food for a clear, glowing complexion. Anthocyanins found in blueberries help shield the skin against aging, and their vitamin C content helps produce collagen, that all-important building block for skin.

And how could I not mention hemp? Hemp contains the ideal ratio of omega 6 to omega 3 essential fatty acids, which has been found to benefit skin health. While omega 6 fats have gotten a bad rap in recent years due to their abundance in highly processed foods in the Standard North American Diet, omega 6 is, in fact, essential, meaning that our bodies don’t produce it on its own and we must have some as part of our diet. It becomes pro-inflammatory when consumed in the high amounts found in highly processed vegetable oils, but it is healthy when consumed in a ratio of 3:1 with omega 3s. And it just so happens that hemp has this ratio. On top of that, hemp seeds are an excellent source of protein, magnesium, and zinc.

A Note on Eggs

If you don’t have backyard hens (I don’t, although that is my dream), I would recommend purchasing local, organic, free range eggs directly from a farmer whom you can trust treats his animals humanely. Not only are these eggs the most ethical option, they are also the most nutritious: the hens are under less stress and enjoy a varied diet, resulting in eggs with a bright orange yolk and a taste without parallel.

How to Make a Savory Breakfast Salad

This salad comes together in about 30 minutes, making it accessible for time-crunched weekday mornings.

To start, peel and dice one large sweet potato. Place it on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet, drizzle with some extra virgin olive oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast at 400 F for about 20 minutes.

While the sweet potato roasts, wash, dry, and chop a bunch of kale. Rinse the blueberries. Whip up the salad dressing by blending together flax oil, apple cider vinegar, grainy mustard, maple syrup, garlic, salt, and pepper. Drizzle the salad dressing over the kale and use your hands to massage it in until the kale is bright green and tender. Add the blueberries and a tablespoon of hemp.

Cook a couple of eggs or protein of choice.

To serve, divide the kale salad between two plates. Top with the sweet potato and additional blueberries and hemp, and serve the egg/tempeh bacon/baked tofu/toast on the side!