Searching for breakfast of champions

Until recently, my breakfast had consisted of coffee, vitamins and blood pressure medicine.

It wasn’t delicious. But it was fast and modern, the breakfast of a man on the go.

Eventually, though, the idea of a stew of chemicals and black coffee floating around in my stomach grew disconcerting. So, I added orange juice to the mix.

I know, we are not supposed to drink our fruit. Nutritionists tell us orange juice is little more than nature’s version of an orange Nehi, minus the carbonation, sugar water dressed up as nourishment.

Orange juice was what mothers from the rocket age of the 1950s and ’60s served their children in the naive belief that it was part of a healthy diet. And, from all the evidence, the nutritionists probably are right about its lack of real dietary value – until, of course, they’re inevitably proven wrong.

But I had reached a conclusion that had very little to do with science and a lot to do with what my mother served me for breakfast as a kid: I really like orange juice.

Breakfast – “the most important meal of the day!” (try reading that as if you’re Charlton Heston addressing the fleeing slaves of Egypt) – has been a conundrum for me. I have tried dozens of things in search of the perfect breakfast, one that is nutritious, fast, filling, non-fattening and tasty.

I am losing faith that such a breakfast actually exists, but I am still looking.

I also, however, am skeptical of the idea that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. If it’s a toaster strudel, how important is that?

And what if we sleep through the traditional breakfast hours and go to brunch instead? Would a Bloody Mary and a slice of quiche be the most important meal of the day?

But I’ll admit, it can be a long slog to lunch with only coffee to keep you marching. That, of course, is why boxed, prepared cereal is so popular and, I might add, so wonderful.

It falls short in only two categories – nutritious and non-fattening – which unfortunately are important ones. Otherwise, nothing is easier than a bowl full of Cheerios and milk in the morning.

At the other end of the easy-to-hard spectrum, bacon, eggs and toast are perfect (grits or hash browns make them even perfecter). But they’re just too much work every morning – which is a good excuse to eat them for dinner, which, of course, makes dinner the most important meal of the day.

In the interests of an easier, speedier breakfast, I have tried a variety of breakfasty things, including fruit smoothies, yogurt, homemade granola (more nutritious than boxed cereal), a whole grapefruit, almond milk, oatmeal, toast and peanut butter, and a simple handful of blueberries. All had their merits, but they all fell short in one way or another.

I have toyed with the idea of eating soup for breakfast, as many Asians do. Or maybe rye crackers and cheese, like the Scandinavians. Or even baked beans, sausage and grilled tomatoes, like the Brits.

All that, however, sounds a little too much like lunch in the morning.

If we are lucky, the nutritional pendulum will swing toward country ham biscuits with cream gravy, sticky buns or beignets and chicory coffee at Cafe Du Monde as the perfect, wholesome, all-American breakfast.

For the moment, though, I’m enjoying my orange juice and hoping that the nutritionists soon have to eat crow (for breakfast, of course!) and admit that OJ confers at least some of the health benefits of a real orange. Until then, orange juice will remain a guilty pleasure.

Bottoms up, and enjoy your day.

This story was originally published April 9, 2015 at 6:51 PM with the headline "Searching for breakfast of champions."