Make Your Breakfast Effortless: Quick & Cooling Options to Beat the Heat

Hot weather makes it difficult to down the regular morning fare like parantha, or cutlets.

Quick and easy breakfast options

(Photo: iStock)

Breakfast undoubtedly is the most important meal of the day. But hot weather makes it difficult to down the regular morning fare like parantha, poori bhaji, cutlet, or other elaborate dishes.

But if you are running short of time, the solution is not to skip or eat something unhealthy (just because you must eat breakfast), it is to be prepared and to keep a ready repertoire of easy-to-make breakfast recipes.

Below are some such recipes that get made in a jiffy and are healthy too.

Egg To The Rescue

Spinach, Egg Scramble

Heat 1tsp oil, add 1 chopped tomato and 2 cloves of sliced garlic, cook for 4 min. keep aside.

Now saute 1 cup spinach leaves in 1 tsp oil, a pinch of red pepper flakes and half chopped onion till tender.

Arrange spinach in the pan, scatter blistered tomatoes over it, season with salt and pepper. And dig in.

Fruity Delights

Fruit With Yoghurt

To make this perfect hot weather breakfast: just chop some fruits and add to a bowl of cold yoghurt.

Most fruits have high water content, so will help maintain your body fluid (which is lost rapidly in the heat) and yogurt is a cooling food. My vote goes to bananas as they are a rich source of potassium, which helps to regulate body fluid lost through excessive sweating and are thus extremely cooling.

Simple Fruit Salad

To make the dressing, combine honey, orange juice, extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice, a pinch each of poppy seeds, salt, and mustard in a jar with a tight lid; cover and shake well. Toss an apple and banana with juice from 1 lemon (to prevent the fruit from turning brown).

Now combine the fruit, few raisins, and almonds (that have been soaked in water overnight and peeled) in a bowl. Add the dressing, and a tbsp of any roasted seeds, stir gently, spread on red leaf lettuce and dig in.

Perfect Cooling Sandwich

This quick to make sandwich is a perfect mix of cooling cucumber, mint, and yoghurt. Take hung curd, add salt, pepper, some chopped mint leaves, and apply as a paste on two slices of bread. Then put thin slices of cucumber in between and chill in the fridge for a while before having.

Make And Keep

Palak Thepla

In a bowl, combine together some raw shredded palak, whole wheat flour, green chilli, turmeric, red chilli powder, chopped garlic and asafoetida and salt to taste. Knead well with sufficient water.

Divide the dough into equal proportions and roll them into thin theplas. Keep these handy (refrigerated). Just cook them on a non-stick pan with a little ghee before eating.

Make And Carry

Quick, Healthy Parfait

Concoct a breakfast parfait with layers of 150gm yoghurt, sliced fresh fruit (50gm strawberries, 1 banana, 1 kiwi…) and 2 tbsp (30gm) crunchy cereal (any), and 1tbsp (15gm) mixed roasted seeds (pumpkin and sunflower). Top with chopped roasted almonds and walnuts, 1 tbsp each.

Few More Quick Ideas

• Grated apple mixed with cottage cheese (toned milk). Add roasted bran and walnut along with honey

• Soaked and boiled black channa with chopped vegetable and a glass of fresh juice

• Any leftover subzi (or fresh vegetable) toaster sandwich with one glass milk and orange

• Banana, pineapple, and grape in curd with roasted wheat germ.

• Boiled egg with toast and papaya.

• Bhelpuri (murmura, wheat flakes, mixed nuts, raisins, banana) with milkshake.

• Two slices of whole wheat bread, with peanut butter spread and frozen low-fat yoghurt with apple chunks added

• Soy milk, banana, flaxseed and yogurt smoothie

• 2 grated fresh amla with honey, 5 soaked almonds with sprouts.

• Strawberry, wheat germ and yoghurt smoothie

(Kavita Devgan is a nutritionist, weight management consultant, and health writer based in Delhi. She is the author of The Don't Diet Plan: A no-nonsense guide to weight loss, Fix it with Food, Ultimate Grandmother Hacks, and Don’t Diet! 50 Habits of Thin People.)