I spend a lot of my life thinking about breakfast – some might say too much.  It’s often the thing that finally pulls me from the comforts of my sheets and blankets and snuggly kitten in the morning.  Without breakfast, there is a fair chance I’d be writing this very post from bed.

I expect a lot from my breakfasts.  They have to be satiating, first and foremost; there’s little worse than a breakfast that leaves you ravenous by 11 am.

They need to be healthy; while I’m not completely sold on the idea of breakfast being the most important meal of the day, I do think it sets the tone for how I eat from there forward.  If I start my day with maple syrup laden pancakes, the blood sugar spike and resulting crash often leaves me craving mac and cheese or bread-heavy sandwiches by lunch, and, come middle of the afternoon, I’ll find myself mindless munching chocolate covered almonds until my hand grazes the bottom of the empty container.  If, on the other hand, I start with a green smoothie, my body begins to crave greens, and I end up having a salad for lunch, and maybe quinoa with mixed vegetables for dinner (followed by chocolate, because, well, that’s what real life looks like).

The final requirement for my breakfasts is about flavor: they have to be delicious, and, perhaps equally importantly, creative.  I get bored with flavors quite quickly, and can’t stand the feeling that I’m eating the same thing day after day, week after week.  In the same way that a healthy breakfast sets off a day of healthy eating, a delicious, interesting breakfast jumpstarts my palette.  It gives me something to get excited about; it revs me up for a creative, stimulating day.

All of which is to say:  I love this recipe.  It’s packed with delicious healthy ingredients, from the fiber and protein rich chia seeds that soothe the intestinal lining, to the skin-loving, Vitamin A rich sweet potato, to the immune boosting rosemary.  Because of all that fiber, protein and good fat, it’s incredibly filling; I ate this yesterday for breakfast and wasn’t hungry for lunch until 2 pm.  And finally, that flavor! The silky sweetness of the sweet potato is grounded in the earthy, herby rosemary.  It feels sophisticated, unexpected, and utterly delightful.  Even if you’re skeptical – rosemary for breakfast?? – I insist you give it a shot at least once.  The flavors meld perfectly, and it simply elevates the morning meal to another level.  Plus, you can walk with a bit of a rebel swagger when you eat it.  Yeah, there’s rosemary in your breakfast.  What up.

Because overnight oats are, well, made overnight, remember to put this together the night before you want to eat it.  It’s super easy and requires hardly any work, but that remembering is vital.  I’ll usually make a big batch Sunday nights and eat throughout the week.

Print