A filling breakfast, sans eggs.

When I was in high school, I had the horrible, nasty, no-good, very bad habit of skipping breakfast.  I was much too preoccupied with deciding what to wear and not at all concerned with how to fuel my body.  Shockingly, well before lunch period, I had devoured the lunch I packed.  And by lunch period, despite having just demolished my lunch, I was ravenous.  But because I didn't want to waste precious socializing time waiting in line for "real food," I did the sensible thing and bought cookies from the a la carte line and then sat in the hallway gossiping with my friends.  

Once I got to college, I was all but forced to make breakfast a daily habit.  My roommate and I always ate lunch together between classes, but our break we had was around 1 o’clock and the risk of me falling into a hypoglycemic coma was high.  Never having been a breakfast eater, I played around with options to see what would satisfy for the next 5 hours.  Cereal filled me up for maybe 5 minutes and cake muffins, pancakes and other sugary stuff made me nauseous so early in the morning.  Luckily, I quickly found an egg and slice of cheese on whole wheat toast did the trick, as that magical combination of fat, protein and high fiber carb always does.  It became my breakfast standard for the next 5 years.

Although eggs are no longer vilified, I realized I needed something more nutritious to start my day. Again, I experimented with different options - hot cereals, whole grain muffins and every smoothie combination you could think of.  But frankly, I was always craving that old combo of crispy toast topped with creamy, fatty goodness.  So when I ran across this recipe at Meatless Monday, I knew I found the perfect healthy substitute!  

To make the morning move a little quicker, saute the vegetables in advance and store in the refrigerator.  It should last about 5-7 days.  Toss any leftover avocado with lemon juice and keep the pit in there, as it will help keep it from browning.  

Avocado Toast

Serves 2

Adapted from Meatless Monday

 

Ingredients:
2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, thin sliced
1/2 pint grape tomatoes
1 avocado
4 slices 100% whole grain bread, toasted (Ezekiel is my favorite!)
Sliced chives for garnish

Heat the oil in a skillet on medium-high heat.  Add the tomatoes and onions, sauté until soft and onions are lightly caramelized, about 5-8 minutes.  Season with salt and pepper. 
Top each slice of toast with 1/4th of the vegetables.  Slice 1/4th of the avocado over each piece of toast.  Garnish with chives.