Healthy Breakfasts

Steel-cut oats are whole-grain oats that are simply chopped, so they’re super-nutritious and have a great chew. Chef Marco Canora likes to simmer them in whole milk and almond milk with sweet spices for a breakfast with staying power.

Buttermilk takes the place of yogurt in this healthy, tangy, ultra-simple blackberry smoothie.

Dave Chang first made this recipe at a food conference in Copenhagen, when he had very little to work with. He simmered barley in local apple cider with chicken stock and kombu, creating a deliciously sweet and savory porridge.

Using polenta (cornmeal) in addition to white flour in these pancakes makes them especially satisfying, as the ground whole grain delivers lots of fiber and a good amount of protein.

Chef Quinn Hatfield cooks big batches of pearled barley and quinoa to keep in his refrigerator for this hot cereal, which comes together in minutes. He also uses the grains in salads. The mixture of cinnamon and chopped dates makes this breakfast nicely sweet—no extra sugar needed.

These baked eggs topped with melted butter are Piero Incisa della Rocchetta's go-to breakfast. The dish was also a favorite of his grandfather Mario, the founder of Italy's world-famous Sassicaia winery in Tuscany.

Elizabeth Falkner loves having juice in the morning, because she feels it helps her "detox so she can retox." This intense savory juice gets a bracing pungency from freshly grated horseradish.

Heidi Swanson, who blogs about healthy food on her excellent website 101 Cookbooks, shares this lightened bread pudding in her cookbook, Super Natural Every Day.

The trick to these crisp, chewy bagels is the poolish, a fermentation starter (also known as a mother dough) made with bread flour, yeast and water. It is quickly assembled the night before the bagels are made.

"How many lunchrooms have disgusting Taco Tuesdays?" asks chef Spike Mendelsohn. As an alternative, he stuffs burritos with scrambled eggs (lightened with egg whites), feta, turkey bacon and spinach.

The key to making this simple fruit salad with candied ginger: Use a sharp knife to cut the citrus. "The better your knife, the better this dish will look," says Jason Travi.

Brazilian surfers first popularized this freakishly nutritious Amazonian berry. Now it has gone mainstream. The smoothie here, by F&W's Grace Parisi, boosts açai's healthfulness with pomegranate juice.

Many people miss out on the nutty flavor and nubby texture of oatmeal made with steel-cut oats because they assume it's too time-consuming to prepare. But if you soak the oats overnight, they cook in just 10 minutes.

Studies have shown that people who eat eggs for breakfast tend to lose weight. Here, eggs are cooked in an antioxidant-rich tomato sauce.

These ingeniously moist muffins from baker Jennifer Musty are rich in calcium and low in fat.

The ricotta in these parfaits is full of calcium, and the pears are loaded with fiber. To add flavor, Marisa May poaches the pears in water infused with maple syrup and lemon juice. The poached pears can also be served separately with granola or yogurt.

Although high in cholesterol, eggs are a terrific source of bone-building vitamins D and K. Gabe Thompson combines them with nutrient-rich mustard greens in this healthy frittata.

Chef Nate Appleman lost lots of weight by running. After a morning workout, he often makes this smoothie, which gets a dose of protein from almond butter.

This granola recipe from Jessamyn Waldman's mother is more nutty than sweet. Says Waldman,"I love it because I'm not a sweet breakfast person myself."