Luke Mangan

This month, Aussie chef and restaurateur Luke Mangan kicks off a brand new blog to share thoughts, ideas and insider gossip on the food and catering industry.

With over 25 years' experience in the business, his own TV show, cookbooks and three world-class restaurants to manage, who better to spill the secrets of the gastronomic world than one of the most successful and recognised faces of Australian cuisine.

Recipe Finder Luke Mangan's food blog

Easy, healthy breakfasts

15/09/2008 3:45:00 PM, Luke Mangan Prev Next

For many people, breakfast is the most stressful meal of the day, eaten either on the go, in a rush, or perhaps not at all! But like most nutritionists (if not all of them), I believe it to be the most important meal of the day and time should be set aside to prepare, sit down and enjoy a good brekkie.

The best breakfast I've ever had was in Ireland, years ago, when I went there on a short holiday with my mother. I woke up in an old Irish guesthouse with the most horrific hangover, but I will never forget the delicious waft of bacon coming from the kitchen! It was so good that my headache seemed to recover a little merely from the smell.

I proceeded to enjoy a feast of some of the best smoked bacon I've ever tasted, alongside two huge fried eggs, black pudding, sausages, roasted tomatoes with herbs, real potato hash browns, roasted mushrooms and crunchy toasted farmer bread. All I needed was a Guinness to wash it down! (Had I asked, I probably would have got one too!) Certainly not a breakfast for every day of the week, or even every week!

There are several far healthier breakfast ideas though that can be whipped up in just a matter of minutes — all you need is a bit of planning.

Here are some great breakfast ideas for busy people:

A couple of pieces of whole fresh fruit

Berries make a great start to the day — they are like mini vitamin pills. There is nothing wrong with buying a punnet of strawberries, running them under water for a few seconds and munching on them for breakfast. In fact, after your overnight fast there is nothing better for you than fresh fruit as it's processed by your body faster than other foods, such as meats — especially pork, which the stomach takes hours to process.

Fruit smoothies

Fruit smoothies are also brilliant as a quick and easy breakfast. All you need is some milk, banana, honey, natural yogurt, fresh or even frozen berries and two teaspoons of bran thrown into a blender, and you have probably one of the best and healthiest brekkies around. I usually do this when I am running late and eat/drink it on the run.

Fresh pancakes with real maple syrup

You don't have to follow a recipe, just throw two eggs into a bowl, add some milk, a little maple syrup to sweeten, a couple of spoons of bran or buckwheat flour or oats, some self-raising flour, a dash of olive oil, and beat it up to a smooth batter. Spoon the mixture into a hot pan with some olive oil, cook on one side until bubbles appear, then flip it and cook a little longer. Chop and throw in whatever fruit you have, a dollop of natural yogurt and away you go.

A great breakfast for cooler days is oatmeal porridge.

People have a tendency to make an oatmeal porridge too dry. For me, it should be like a thick winter soup, with lots of milk, a sprinkling of brown or raw sugar, or even real maple syrup, topped with berries and bananas and chopped nuts. What a start to the day!

Bircher muesli is always a winning breakfast

Check out my special Bircher muesli recipe here.

YOUR SAY: Any great breakfast recipes or tips for quick and easy brekkies? Share them below!

User comments

One would expect from the title that these breakfasts were quick... (apart from the fruit) there's a lot of preparation involved in all of these breakfasts which doesn't really lend them to being "quick". These suggestions sound delicious and would be wonderful for weekend breakfast, however as a serial breakfast skipper, i had hoped for something a little easier for breakfast on the run.

Could we have some recipes for a thousand calories a day diet? I try to keep breakfast to 200 cals, lunch the same and leave about 600 cals for the main meal.

I tried this bircher muesli recipe at the weekend, and it was amazing... tasted really good, and my partner (who NEVER usually wants muesli) really gushed about it too!! Thanks Luke!

One of my faves is to soak two tablespoons of steel cut oats overnite in some apple juice. Its fine on its own in the morning or you can add fruit and or natural yoghurt. Yummy!

gee, who would have considered eating fruit, pancakes or oats for breakfast??? How original and groundbreaking this information is. What's next? Sandwiches for lunch?????

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