Recipe: Boost and balance breakfast bowl

Naturopathic doctor Tara Lapointe knows how to start the day on right foot, with a balanced breakfast. Written with her wisdom in mind, here’s an easy recipe for feeling good, energized and stuffed to seize the day.

Begin with a base of steel cut oats—pick them over quick-cook or processed oats. “They’re a complex carbohydrate and take the body longer to break down therefore more sustainable energy,” says Lapointe. She adds that steel cut oats are “full of a unique fibre called beta glucan, which helps with blood sugar and cholesterol control and may support a healthy immune system.”

A balanced meal of protein, complex carbohydrates, fibre and antioxidants will make you feel incredible. Healthy fats, like yogurt or avocado, are also important, Lapointe says: “We need these to feel satiated and to help absorb some of the fat soluble nutrients found in other ingredients.”

——

Time 20 minutes
Makes one serving

Ingredients
½ cup steel cut oats
1 ½ cups water
½ cup unsweetened coconut or almond milk
¼ fresh or frozen blueberries
½ banana, sliced
½ peach, sliced
2 tbsp almond or pumpkin seed butter
1 tbsp chia seeds
⅓ cup full fat vanilla yogurt,
like Liberté Organic
1 tsp raw honey

Instructions
In a small pot, bring water to boil, then add steel cut oats. Turn down to simmer and cook uncovered for 15-20 minutes, stirring frequently, until the oats have become tender and the liquid has reduced. Add the milk in the last minutes of cooking. Put the oats in a bowl, and top with the remaining ingredients.