A great breakfast can set the tone of the day. Too sugary and you may feel sluggish within an hour, but choosing the right ingredients can give you a meal that’s vitamin-packed, energy-boosting, attractive, and delicious.

Even better, making dishes that are colorful are not only cheerful to look at in the morning, the more colors usually mean a higher variety of nutrients!

March, being National Nutrition Month, is a great time to experiment with new dishes, or tweak your classic favorites - adding ingredients to traditional dishes to can up the nutrition ante. Enjoy our recipe ideas below!

Start with an anti-inflammatory, tasty hot cup of Golden Milk (touted as being beneficial against arthritis). Golden Milk is a turmeric latte seasoned with ginger and cinnamon. Turmeric is an antioxidant. Used as a spice in India for years, adding it freshly ground or in dried powder form to hot oat milk or almond milk with maple syrup, freshly ground or powdered ginger and cinnamon makes a bright golden, creamy hot beverage! (recipes below)

It’s perfect for morning or evening.

Follow that with breakfast’s newest star that’s been trending for the past several years: Avocado Toast. A perfect 5 minute breakfast! Ripe avocado spread on multi-grain toast with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, sliced cherry tomatoes, Kosher salt and ground pepper makes an instant, easy meal! Up the protein by adding sliced hardboiled egg on top - or add fresh spinach or radishes, if you like. Avocados are high in fat - but it’s the “good” monounsaturated fat that lowers bad cholesterol when eaten in moderation. You can top your toast with a drizzle of horseradish, or mayo, or eat without!

Next, classic oatmeal can have even more nutrition when topped with a small amount of walnuts and unsweetened almond milk (read the label to make sure there are no added sugars). Sweeten it with fresh pomegranates and top with cinnamon for cholesterol-lowering, heart-smart ingredients. Pomegranates, popular in Iran as a health foods staple, are an antioxidant superfood like oatmeal. They are loaded in Vitamin A, C, K and Folate. 3 to 5 walnuts in your oatmeal is great for omega-3s. The whole dish may be beneficial to digestion and brain health.

A hardy breakfast can be in the form of a colorful smoothie. Traditional ingredients like apples, bananas and antioxidant blueberries to more unusual ingredients like adding a few pieces of avocado (you won’t even taste it!), making smoothies can spur your culinary creativity! And, unlike juicing, smoothies call for using the whole fruit or veggie which means you will feel full while also getting the benefits of fiber.

Make your March breakfasts wonderful with protein, vitamin c, complex carbs, and anti-inflammatory ingredients to keep you filled and energetic until your next meal!

Turmeric Latte

• 2 cups almond milk
• 1 tsp turmeric powder
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 2 tbsp maple or agave syrup
• ¼ tsp fresh or ground ginger (optional. Some people are bothered by ginger)

Pour milk into a saucepan. Cook over medium-high until it’s hot, but don’t bring it to a boil. Remove from heat, adding remainder of ingredients. Stir. Add more milk, turmeric, ginger, cinnamon or syrup if you like for flavor.

You can blend the hot milk with ingredients in a blender if you want to make it frothy. Sprinkle with cinnamon. Enjoy!

5 Minute Avocado Toast

• One-piece multi-grain bread
• ½ tsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• ½ ripe, fresh avocado, peeled, seeded, and mashed
• 1 hard-boiled egg (or fried), optional
• Slices of cherry or Heirloom tomatoes (optional)
• Cracked pepper, Kosher salt to taste
• Other options: spinach, radishes, cucumber

Toast your bread, spread olive oil, spread on avocado, top with egg, or even spinach. Enjoy!

Pomegranate Oatmeal

• 1/2 cup rolled oats
• 1/2 cup nut milk
• 1 ripe, mashed banana
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 cup pomegranate seeds (add more or less to your liking)
• 1/4 cup walnuts
• Cinnamon to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium-sized bowl whisk ingredients together. Spray a ramekin with coconut oil and place in the oven. Bake for about 25 minutes or until fully cooked. Enjoy!

Green Smoothie

• ½ ripe avocado (pitted, peeled) or ½ banana (you can use both but it will make your smoothie very thick)
• ½ cup fresh blueberries
• 3/4 cup skim milk, almond milk, oat milk or water (add more for thinner smoothie)
• ¼ cup spinach
• ½ to the whole apple, sliced
• Dash of cinnamon
• Optional additions: ¼ cup fresh sliced strawberries and cucumbers in place of blueberries and spinach
• 4 cubes of ice, optional

Pour the liquid into a blender and add ingredients a little bit at a time and blend. If too thick, add more liquid. Blend until desired consistency. Pour in a glass, top with a sprinkle of cinnamon. Enjoy!