The latest update for Quick and Easy Heart Healthy Breakfast Recipes is written by Lindsay Podolak.
We all know that breakfast is “the most important meal of the day.” So rushing out the door with just a hot coffee with cream and sugar in hand does not do our bodies, or our hearts, any favors. Instead, taking the time to put together a delicious breakfast filled with heart healthy ingredients is key.
Of course, living a busy life means that time is always a factor, which is why we need something that manages to balance being both healthy and quick or easy. The following two recipes – my personal overnight oats creation and a completely customizable avocado toast recipe – will not only help your waistline, but also help your heart beat just a little happier.
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The Quick Heart Healthy Breakfast Recipe
First up, overnight oats. All you need is a glass and a few minutes the night before to enjoy a heart healthy breakfast on-the-go. This quick and easy breakfast can be eaten as cold oatmeal or, if you have a few more minutes, the ingredients can be thrown into a blender for an on-the-go smoothie packed with everything you need to keep that ticker running.
The meal is made with heart healthy oatmeal that has beta-glucan fiber, which helps lower your LDL cholesterol, polyphenol-loaded raspberries, and blueberries that help clean up all those free radicals in your body, as well as cashew butter, almond milk and walnuts that are excellent sources of good monounsaturated fats. Add in a little cinnamon and a banana for some potassium (an alternative to dairy) to help lower blood pressure and it’s heart health in a glass.
Hearty and Healthy Overnight Oats
- 1/4 cup uncooked quick oatmeal (organic)
- ½ cup each raspberries and blueberries (organic, fresh or frozen)
- ½ banana (mashed)
- 1/2 cup almond milk
- 1-teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ cup roughly chopped walnuts
- 1-tablespoon cashew butter (if blending. If not, leave out)
In a jar, mix together the oats, berries, banana, almond milk and cinnamon. Shake well and leave overnight. In the morning, top with the walnuts and cashew butter or put the cashew butter and the overnight oats into the blender for a smoothie.
The Easy Heart Healthy Breakfast Recipe
Next up, avocado toast. What may have seemed like a passing trend when it hit the scene a few years back has proved it has legitimate staying power on the breakfast menu, thanks to both its deliciousness and its health benefits.
You’d be hard-pressed to find a brunch spot in New Jersey that doesn’t offer some type of avocado toast concoction. Montclair’s Plum on Park restaurant has the Avocado Egg Salad Crostini, with mashed avocado, chopped eggs and arugula. Yum!
Avocados, while high in fat content, are full of the good kind of fat… monounsaturated fatty acids, known as “heart-healthy fats.” And if you pair it with a slice of toasted Ezekiel bread, you’re adding in an additional dose of fiber, nutrients, sprouted grains and protein.
But the best part about it? The ways to top off your avocado toast are seemingly endless. Check out this list for some ideas, or be creative and come up with your own! I like to add crushed red pepper to mine.
Basic Avocado Toast
- 2 slices Ezekiel bread
- 1 avocado
- Lime juice
- Salt & pepper
Toast two slices of Ezekiel bread. Mash ripe avocado in a bowl with a squirt of lime juice (to prevent browning). Add in salt and pepper to taste.
Boom, done. It’s that easy!
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Additional Images (in Order) Courtesy:
Melissa Beveridge / Best of NJ
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