A Beautfiul Breakfast is a Healthy Breakfast

Start your breakfast with a beautiful plate of healthy goodies.

As you may know, I'm a big fan of the morning masterpiece. Waking up and making something extra-special to get your day started. I love to take this opportunity to wake up my senses in the morning in every way. If you're looking for healthy breakfast ideas, this is a great start.

All it takes is a mix of textures, colors, flavors and a little bit of imagination. I like to start with a white plate. It's like a blank canvas for me. I then make some healthy breakfast choices. Raw food makes gorgeous ingredients for your artistic palette as well as your taste palette. I usually like to start with yogurt as a foundation to build upon. Jams, jellies and squirts of juice add great bursts of texture to the plate. Large pieces of fruit make a great anchor visually and I often I like to stud it with honey comb. Honey makes a great drizzle texture. Granola and nuts add crunch and variety to the plate. I like to choose from colorful and exotic fruits and often edible flowers from my garden to complete my composition. Consider adding cheeses, meats, dried fruit or anything you desire.

Breakfast in my courtyard

Don't be afraid to play with your food! Have a great time. It's also a wonderful activity to do together with your kids. You can make a healthy breakfast for kids, they will think they are making art and the will love eating their magnificent morning creations. Provecho!

Morning Masterpiece

Fig Yogurt with Banana, Guava, Honey and Cinnamon

I love fruit. I've been called a fruit. But sometimes fruit can feel a little boring in the morning. Making overnight oats or dumping some yogurt, granola and fruit in a bowl doesn't always give me extra satisfaction I sometimes need in the early hours of the day.

So when I need an little extra visual fulfillment or just need to impress a stranger who stayed over the night before, I like to put my best fruit forward and make a lovely looking plate filled with healthy ingredients to start the day.

I stop thinking of my food as ingredients, and more as materials for art. After assessing my materials I start thinking of the shapes, colors and textures before me. I begin cut shape profiles and lay them out on the canvas, which in this case is now a white plate. A dollop of yogurt, a drizzle of honey and a sprinkle of cinnamon completes my edible art.

So, next time you have guests over for brunch, or just want to make sometime special for yourself in the morning, take a few extra minutes for plating and make your own morning masterpiece. If you create something I would love to see it. Upload your breakfast to Instagram and use the hashtag #morningmasterpiece.

Recipe: Avocado Toast

Avocado Toast by Xhico

I've been seeing Avocado Toast popping up as a trend in Los Angeles restaurants lately. I have yet to try one, so I decide to make one today for lunch. Here's how it went:

This toast is basically like a California style bruschetta, using avocado as the base.

For each piece of toast you will need:

- 1 Slice Bread
- 1/2 Avocado (Sliced)
- 2 Tbsp Heirloom Tomato (Diced)
- 1 Tbsp Red Onion (Finely Diced)
- Cilantro (Few leaves or 1/2 tsp chopped)
- Lemon or Lime Juice (Squeeze)
- Olive Oil (Use a really tasty Extra Virgin Olive Oil)
- Sea Salt (to taste)
- Fresh cracked black pepper (to taste)
- Cumin (a pinch)

First toast a thinly sliced piece of bread. I use fresh French bread. I brush it with olive oil and toast it on the skillet. Get your toasts ready and set aside.

Next prepare your other ingredients: Tomato, Onion, Cilantro. Save your avocado for last so it is fresh and doesn't discolor. Dice your tomato to about 1/4" pieces. Give your red onion and fine dice. Pick several leaves off your cilantro. Cut your lemon in half and have your olive oil and seasonings on hand.

Avocados are delicate so take care and treat them with love. First you want to slice your avocado in half. First slide your knife into the avocado running from pole to pole cutting through the stem side. Gently let your knife go into the flesh until it hits the seed. Now slide your knife completely around the avocado keeping the knife touching the seed. After the knife has cut completely around the avocado, remove the knife. Grab the each half of the avocado with your hand and slowly and gently twist in opposite directions. One half of the avocado should then remove from the seed. If you can't get the seed out of the other half, take chef's knife and whack the seed. Be very careful! The knife should stick in the seed, then gently twist. The seed should pop right out.

Now you have two clean avocado halves. To get perfect slices, leave the avocado in the skin. Slice the flesh from tip to tip creating even slices. If the avocado is perfectly ripe, you may be able to slide the skin right off. Otherwise, use a spoon to nudge between the flesh and the skin. Gently remove your slices. The slices can now be fanned out to cover your toast beautifully.

If you're not into all the work, you can scoop the avocado out with a spoon and smear it across your toast.

After putting on the avocado, give it a sprinkle of salt and black pepper. Top with tomato, onion, a few cilantro leaves, a squeeze of lemon and drizzle with good olive oil. Finish with a sprinkle of cumin and a little more salt.