The notion that breads, pastries, grains, sweetened cereals, eggs, dairy and cured meats are breakfast foods is . . . ridiculous.

We’ve been inside-out with the labels and emotional cues of eating times and the social construct developed by food corporations to sell more product in other blog posts. The honesty of the matter is that breakfast isn’t anything. It means nothing.

Breakfast is the first meal you eat after a fast. Fasting is what you do while you sleep. So, if you were to choose to feed your body the nutrients it needs to kickstart the process of nourishing and fueling your body, what would you select? Dead animals fried in grease and laden in salt? Over-processed grains caked in sugar and filled with enrichment nutrients to make it a viable food option?

There are nutritious grains. Yes. Oats, quinoa, farrow… But, for the sake of moving past the entire construct of what is an appropriate first food of the day, let’s side step grains as a cereal as we know it and move way out of the box.

Salad.

You heard that right. Salad feeds the brain. And not just any salad. Iceberg mix, step aside. Let’s say you chop up some kale, toss in a few shelled edamame, a bit of quinoa, a few chopped leeks and mushrooms and a heap of berries. Squeeze a slice of orange over the whole pile of life and maybe even spritz with vinegar. There.

Breakfast.

We assure you, by the time you munch your way through this powerhouse salad you will be ready to conquer anything the day can throw at you. With all of that raw plant nutrient packed power you won’t likely miss anything about a tradition first meal. Least of all the drop in blood sugar from refined grains or the heavy gut feeling after a eggs, bacon and butter slathered toast.

Eating a plate full of animal protein first thing in the morning is the last thing a person should be doing to fuel their day.

Perhaps the whole onion, mushroom and kale part of the salad isn’t your style. Let’s take the rest of that salad and jazz it up. A bit more quinoa, that same pile of fresh berries, a few other power-packed fruits, if you like, and a sprinkle of nuts.

Fruit salad.

Amazing fuel. No yogurt or granola necessary. Making a salad ahead is also quite easy.

This week, give it a try. Get those salad munching muscles toned up first thing. You may never go back to tradition.