White Beans and Kale Brekkie
We often have an idea of what breakfast is supposed to look like. Eggs, bacon, pancakes, oats… This made me feel really mediocre about breakfast. I don’t like boxes that hinder creativity, and I don’t like feeling like there are specific foods for different times of the day. It’s something we have completely made up, so I encourage you to eat foods that make you feel well in the morning, regardless of whether or not they look breakfasty or not.
What I always aim for with every meal is to make sure I am getting some quality protein, healthy fats and some fiber and phytonutrients from plant foods (usually vegetables but sometimes fruit.) But otherwise, there are no labels.
When eating a meal that has little to no protein in the morning (i.e. oats and coconut yogurt bowls), I make sure to add two scoops of my favorite collagen to my matcha or chai latte which gives me a healthy 20 grams of protein. When we have meals without protein it leaves us hungry sooner rather than later, and blood sugar won’t stay as stable for good energy, mood and mental clarity.
So — here we have a veggie rich breakfast that’s detoxifying, gut friendly and anti-inflammatory. And oh so delicious. It has some protein from the beans, but I did enjoy my collagen matcha along side it.
INGREDIENTS
Lemon White Beans and Kale Brekkie (vegan, and free of dairy, eggs, grains and gluten)
Serves 1 (approx. Our hunger needs are all different, increase or decrease qty. as needed)
1/2 sweet onion, chopped
1-2 cloves of garlic, chopped
1/2 a head of curly or flat kale, chopped (or sub swiss chard)
1/3 c white beans
1 tbs pumpkin seeds
1 tbs olive oil
Large pinch of pink himalayan salt (or sea salt)
Freshly cracked pepper
Juice of half a lemon
A side of gluten free toast (this is a buckwheat sourdough toast)
METHOD
Heat a pan over medium low with olive oil. Add the onions and sauté until slightly soft, about 8 minutes, then add the kale, garlic, salt and pepper, sautéing a bit more. Once the kale is tender, add the beans and heat for another minute until they are nice and hot.
Serve in a bowl with the toast (or sweet potato!), adding pumpkin seeds and freshly squeeze lemon juice to finish.
SIDE NOTES ON BEANS
Beans For Gut Health and Picking
There will always be opposite “expert” advise on the same topic but to my understanding, beans are fantastic for health, especially gut health. Dr. Will Bulsiewicz, a gastroenterologist who has a more holistic approach to gut health, praises beans and their positive influence on the gut microbiome. He aims to get them into one or two meals per day to optimize gut health.
For those sensitive to beans, it may be that starting out with a smaller amount is needed. Our ability to handle fiber should be though of like exercising - we wouldn’t try to do bicep curls with 40lb dumbbells to start, we would grab a smaller set of weights and build up our strength. The same goes for fiber. If there are still digestive sensitivities after slowly working towards tolerating them, taking a closer look at gut health would be wise.
Beans and Blood Sugar
Beans are complex carbohydrates rich in fiber so they don’t raise blood sugar like refined carbs, but none the less, they raise blood sugar. This is okay and completely natural in moderate amount, our body likes to use carbohydrates as fuel, but that being said, I’m mindful not to over do it and go at it with 2 cups of beans in one sitting. Otherwise blood sugar can raise too much, too quickly. This is like most things however — anything we eat (or do) in excess can have negative outcomes. You can think of it as a bell curve. This doesn’t mean beans need to be avoid by any means, just not to have them excessively.
Best Canned Beans
Now if you’re not making beans yourself, I highly suggest getting canned beans from Eden Foods. They soak their beans in stainless steel containers (which most companies don’t do), and then they steam blanch, rinse and pressure cook them. Their process makes their beans far easier to digest, inactivates lectins, and makes for much more tender beans (yum!). Their cans are also also free of BPA, BPS and phthalates which are all very harmful to health and the environment.
You can soak and make beans in a pressure cooker yourself as well. If you do, BRAVO! Personally I’ve always loved the idea but never actually get around to it because I can only make so much from scratch!
p.s. I’m not an affiliate of Eden Foods, I just like to share the best choices that I’ve discovered.