Breakfast Salad

Salad for breakfast is a wonderful way to start the day. It’s delicious, hydrating and can be incredibly satiating. You might be thinking, “salad for breakfast is crazy, I need eggs and carbs to get my brain pumping!” Well, when you have breakfast salad you get to put eggs and sure, carbs in your salad if you wish. My breakfast salads almost always have medium-boiled eggs, lots of greens, an extra tangy vinaigrette, and something salty like capers or parmigiano cheese or croutons. The jammy egg provides much needed protein, the lettuce (which is mostly water) is hydrating at a time when you’re at your most dehydrated, the vinaigrette is lively and gets those taste buds fired up while the salty bits make the dish incredibly satisfying and provide little treats making you want to go back for more. As a result breakfast salads can be not just a healthy meal, but a satiating start that will get you through till lunch.

Jammy eggs are one of the most beautiful things. But, I ate this salad for the feta.

Maybe I haven’t yet convinced you because the thought of picking and washing a head of lettuce or chopping up veggies before your morning cup of coffee sounds unlikely. And on that point I will concede that breakfast salad cannot compete with traditional breakfast foods for convenience. So, if you are truly going to have salad for breakfast you need to make it as convenient as frying an egg or buttering toast. That means boiling eggs, preparing a vinaigrette, and picking your lettuce ahead of time. With that done, composing and dressing a salad is actually quicker than waiting for the toaster to pop, I promise! Here’s how I prep the various parts:

Jammy medium-boiled eggs

Bring a small pot of water to a boil. Add several uncracked eggs and set a timer. The timing depends on the size of your eggs but a general rule of thumb is 7 minutes for a gooey yolk, 8 minutes for a slightly set but still jammy yolk, and 10 minutes for fully hard-boiled. While the eggs are boiling fill a large bowl with equal parts ice and water to form an ice bath. After the eggs have reached your desired doneness (I usually pull mine around 8 minutes) gently dunk them in the ice bath. This is called “shocking” and it halts the cooking. Some say it also makes peeling the eggs easier. 

For more on the perfect boiled egg, I recommend J. Kenji Lopez Alt’s first article for the New York Times which was published in September 2019. He completed rigorous testing of various egg-boiling techniques and disproves some myths and questionable techniques as bunk.

Tangy vinaigrette

The rule for a classic vinaigrette is 3 parts oil to 1 part vinegar. This will work in most cases but results will vary based on the vinegar and oil you are using. A sweeter or milder vinegar like balsamic might be overpowered by 3 parts of oil. A meyer lemon, which is basically an orange if you ask me, isn’t going to be as acidic as a eureka or a white wine vinegar so you’ll want to adjust accordingly. The best advice I can give you is to taste and adjust as you go. 

I often find myself ending up closer to a 2 to 1 oil to vinegar ratio by the time I’m done tasting and adjusting. My vinaigrette almost always has one or all of the following flavor boosters: garlic, shallot and mustard. Lastly, you must salt and pepper your vinaigrette to get the most out of it. An easy trick a la Jaime Oliver is to put everything into an old jam jar or mason jar and just shake the hell out of it to emulsify. It’s more fun (and more effective) than combining with a spoon. This way you can also make a big batch and store in the fridge for many future breakfast salads.

Lettuce and other veggies

This category is pretty straightforward. The better your lettuce, the better your salad. Lettuce lasts longer when stored as an entire head in a plastic bag with a paper towel (to capture excess moisture as the lettuce breathes). However, the convenience factor of pre-washed lettuce may be the difference between actually eating a salad and not. So, go for the pre-washed if you’ll use it up in a few days, or buy a head or two and wash and store a salad’s worth the night before you plan to use it.

In terms of other veggies, go with what you have on hand. There’s nothing wrong with keeping it simple with greens only but throwing in something else to provide some crunch is always nice. Cucumber is a favorite of mine, as are thinly sliced red onions or chopped scallions. Herbs are also a wonderful addition to any salad. Carrots, celery, bell peppers, tomatoes if they are in season….anything goes, it’s your salad.

Salty treats

This is your opportunity to add something salty and delicious to your salad that will make you excited to eat it. Maybe you want to toast and salt some nuts to scatter on top, or repurpose stale bread into croutons. If you’re turning a traditional bacon and eggs breakfast into a salad you can even fry up some bacon to mix in, see Salade Lyonnaise. 

I always keep a jar of capers in the fridge so I can sprinkle a spoonful into a salad and I often shave bits of parmigiano for an easy flavor boost before diving in. These goodies provide much needed umami to an otherwise light and fresh meal and thus make the breakfast salad something I’m genuinely excited to eat.

So, go prep your salad ingredients today so you can enjoy one tomorrow morning. You’ll thank yourself for it!