The best part of waking up is ... feta?

June 17, 2010 5:58 PM

Mediterranean diet? But what the hell do you have for breakfast?

I've looked through lots and lots of books and Web sites, and haven't gotten a clear answer, and neither have I gotten any variety.

If you enjoy the Mediterranean diet, what do you have for breakfast?

posted by Cool Papa Bell to Food & Drink (36 answers total)

Greek yogurt?
posted by anniecat at 6:05 PM on June 17, 2010 [3 favorites]

couscous with fruit?
posted by rikschell at 6:07 PM on June 17, 2010

Wikipedia's "Breakfast" article contains a surprisingly extensive list of what people in many places eat for breakfast. Southern Europe. Middle East. Unfortunately, a lot of that stuff (cheese, pastries) is not really "diet food" but there are many, many breakfast ideas in there.

The key to good breakfast realizing that what counts as "breakfast food" is entirely arbitrary. Anything can be breakfast.
posted by k. at 6:08 PM on June 17, 2010 [7 favorites]

All of the above, and you'll be set!
posted by jgirl at 6:08 PM on June 17, 2010

Feta, bread(w/ honey/butter), tomatoes, olives, cucumber...at least this is what the Turkish staff ate at the Turkish restaurant where I used to work. Seems pretty Medi to me.
posted by sarelicar at 6:10 PM on June 17, 2010 [11 favorites]

Berries and a brown rice and egg pancake with sriracha? (That's what I do anyway.)

Brown Rice Breakfast Pancake recipe:
1/2 cup of prepared brown rice (I make mine ahead using Alton Brown's baking method, using chicken broth in place of water, and keep it in the fridge for breakfast purposes).
1 egg
spices that suit your fancy (sometimes I add cumin, sometimes it's just sriracha with salt & pepper...)

I put the 1/2 cup of rice in a bowl, add the egg white (I leave the yolk in a small container nearby) and whatever spices seem delicious, and mix it all up with a fork. I then spray a small/medium pan with Pam and pour the pancake mixture in. I also place a lid on top of the pan to help it cook through. Once the pancake is firm, I spray the top with more Pam, flip it over (so it gets nice and brown and crispy on both sides). Then that yolk that was separated out before gets placed on the middle and the lid goes back on top. I like my yolk medium runny, but you can gauge how much cooking time it needs to suit your fancy.

The best part of this is that it really only takes about 5 minutes or so -- exactly as much time as it takes me to boil water and get the French Press good to go.

sigh... I love breakfast.
posted by ohyouknow at 6:16 PM on June 17, 2010 [20 favorites]

Whoops, was this supposed to be food you'd actually find to eat in the Mediterranean? I was thinking about it in healthful diet terms, sorry.
posted by ohyouknow at 6:18 PM on June 17, 2010

When I was working on a kibbutz, our breakfast usually consisted of pita bread, tea, Israeli Salad, cream of wheat, fried eggs, and tomatoes and cucumbers.
posted by holterbarbour at 6:23 PM on June 17, 2010 [1 favorite]

Yogurt on fruit, drizzled with honey.
posted by Thorzdad at 6:23 PM on June 17, 2010 [1 favorite]

Ful, while not what most people would think of as breakfast, is surprisingly delicious, common in areas surrounding the Mediterranean and fits pretty well into the Med. diet. It's also pretty easy to make, as long as you use canned fava beans. For best results, use good tahini, and dry-roast some whole cumin seeds in a frying pan to make your ground cumin. I happen to like my wife's recipe (warning: self-link) best, but perhaps I'm prejudiced.

A Turkish breakfast is pretty yummy too. I'd add hardboiled eggs and roasted peppers to sarelicar's list.
posted by dttocs at 6:25 PM on June 17, 2010 [6 favorites]

@dttocs, I forgot the eggs :)
posted by sarelicar at 6:26 PM on June 17, 2010

Scoop of labneh, drizzle of olive oil, top with za'atar. Pita optional. Or za'atar manakish with labneh on the side.
posted by holgate at 6:29 PM on June 17, 2010 [2 favorites]

Nth the people above who recommended Turkish breakfast. I love Turkish breakfast desparately. Baguette slices with soft cheese plus tomato, cucumber, olives, and a hard boiled egg make a beautiful early meal.
posted by palmcorder_yajna at 6:33 PM on June 17, 2010 [4 favorites]

My experience in Amman, Jordan: khoubez or flatbread, with kiri kiri (essentially laughing cow type cheese) or another mild cheese, green olives, labneh or yogurt and tea. I suspect these answers are too literal and you're just looking for a practical breakfast to fit into your diet, though, in which case I'd say fruit, vegetables, healthy breads and yogurts or eggs for protein all fit the bill.
posted by Lisitasan at 6:36 PM on June 17, 2010

Nth+1 the Turkish breakfast! YUM.

And in Syria, I ate a lot of fuul for breakfast - basically, fava beans in some sort of broth (more beans than broth - about 80-90% solid), drizzled over with maybe some tahini, and always a bit of extra-fragrant olive oil on top. Pita bread or similar for dunking & scooping. Middle-eastern grocers normally stock this stuff in a can, so you can throw it together quickly at home without messing about soaking the beans overnight (unless you prefer to do that).

Fuul's more of a hearty winter dish, though. Turkish breakfasts are more summery.
posted by UbuRoivas at 6:42 PM on June 17, 2010

In Greece I had lattés for breakfast, or Greek yogurt with honey and mountain tea, or waffles with Greek yogurt and fruit and honey (but that was more like...lunch. And then I'd have dinner about ten hours later after all the sugar wore off). Yogurt was pretty much what I saw the people around me eating for breakfast, or sometimes eggs.
posted by annathea at 7:03 PM on June 17, 2010

In Greece, breakfast tends to be coffee and cigarettes, to be honest.
posted by halogen at 7:20 PM on June 17, 2010 [1 favorite]

In the South of France, I typically had a cafe au lait, yogurt and either a hot croissant or a bit of toasted baguette drizzled with honey. Sometimes fromage frais.

(Oh, man, the croissants!)
posted by darkstar at 7:25 PM on June 17, 2010 [1 favorite]

cold pizza and Peroni?
posted by toodleydoodley at 7:31 PM on June 17, 2010 [1 favorite]

strong espresso and a cigarette.


maybe a bread roll
posted by wilful at 7:54 PM on June 17, 2010 [1 favorite]

The South Beach Diet is considered a Mediterranean diet. Not sure if you are referring to the diet by that name or what one would actually eat in the Mediterranean for breakfast. If it is the latter, ignore my post.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 7:56 PM on June 17, 2010

And wilful describes the perfect italian breakfast!

Actually people at home in Italy usually have coffee or tea, toast with butter, jam, or honey, or nutella, maybe cereals, milk, or cookies... I'd say it's mostly a sweet breakfast. A typical mid-morning break might be a cup of yogurt and a banana, or a sandwich. I'd venture to say from my observations that 90% of those who have breakfast in a cafe have a cappuccino and a pastry.
posted by _dario at 8:47 PM on June 17, 2010

Many years ago a friend of mine once mentioned in passing that he had a ham sandwich for breakfast. It surprisingly shocked me, and I thought about that for many months.

It really is weird how we've programmed ourselves to divide our food into 'breakfast', 'lunch', and 'dinner' food types. In some cases it makes sense--it takes a while to cook many 'dinner' dishes, for which you have more time in the evening. But in most cases it makes no sense at all and the categories really should be completely discarded. You don't have to tell anyone if you are worried about living contrary to social conventions.

Donuts, pancakes, sugar coated popcorn (which is what many breakfast cereals are made of)? Even eggs and bacon? Why breakfast? Why not a hamburger for breakfast and eggs for dinner? There really is no useful reason.

So if you want to eat a Mediterranean diet for breakfast, stop thinking that you have to eat 'breakfast food' at breakfast time and just eat what you want. In any case you'll do better throughout the day with a good Mediterranean protein, fruit , and vegetable meal in the morning. I usually do, and have for the last several years. Eat a smaller lunch and dinner if you are worried about weight gain.
posted by eye of newt at 8:57 PM on June 17, 2010 [1 favorite]

OK so the basics of the diet include "abundant plant foods, fresh fruit, olive oil, dairy products." So I'd be eating fruit, or olives and feta, or yogurt, or hummus scooped with celery or cucumbers for a fast breakfast. You need fuel, not "breakfast food" for breakfast; you can eat anything that sounds good.

Plus you can eat limited eggs; weekend omlettes with feta and tomatoes are gorgeous.
posted by DarlingBri at 9:16 PM on June 17, 2010

Breakfast 1:

Nuts, fresh fruit, lowfat milk with cocoa mixed with half a banana. .

Breakfast 2:

Yogurt, fresh fruit, toasted oats (homemade granola), tea.

Breakfast 3:

A quiche, fresh fruit, coffee (eggs shouldn't be eaten more than 3 times a week)

Breakfast 4:

Hummus on rye bread, tomatoes cucumbers, cheese and sprouts. Tea.

Breakfast 5 (make ahead):

Yogurt rolls - take a whole grain tortilla, brush a half and half mixture of honey and water on one side, sprinkle that side with cinnamon, flip over on to wax paper, make a line of yogurt (about 1/8 a cup, put some frozen berries on top of yogurt and roll up. Freeze individually. Orange Juice.
posted by Brent Parker at 10:56 PM on June 17, 2010 [1 favorite]

Wholegrain toast with olive oil and sliced tomato or English-style baked beans.
posted by obiwanwasabi at 12:32 AM on June 18, 2010

halogen: In Greece, breakfast tends to be coffee and cigarettes, to be honest.
wilful: strong espresso and a cigarette

This. In Italy, too. At the very most, with a Danish pastry or similar.

Mrs aqsakal (Italian) went white, trembled and sat down sharply the day I told her that in my office in Germany we used to take a break at 9 am and go down to the canteen for a bowl of gulash soup.
posted by aqsakal at 2:13 AM on June 18, 2010 [1 favorite]

from what i've seen around the Mediterranean:
France: Espresso and perhaps a croissant / or a Cafe Au Lait (only ever for breakfast)
Italy: Espresso and maybe a sweet little pastry
Turkey: just tea? they drink that tea all day though. maybe a sweet biscuit.
posted by mary8nne at 5:07 AM on June 18, 2010

Is this a question about what people actually eat around the Mediterranean? or some idealised 'diet' based on a facsilimie of what people there eat?
posted by mary8nne at 5:09 AM on June 18, 2010

Google 'Mediterranean Diet'.

None of the links talk about what they actually eat in Mediterranean countries. It is a diet concept. Nevertheless the responses here giving their actual breakfast habits has spurred my imagination to place me in a cafe facing a beautiful Mediterranean coastline, watching some old guy in the next table put spoon after spoon of sugar into his tiny cappuccino cup.
posted by eye of newt at 7:11 AM on June 18, 2010

When I was in Marseilles we had toast (or fresh baguette) with jam, croissants or fresh fruit with cafe au lait.
posted by blueskiesinside at 7:35 AM on June 18, 2010

(Responding assuming that it's the diet concept the OP is talking about, not what is actually eaten in Mediterranean countries.)

For breakfast, I usually have savory oatmeal (steel cut oats, sauteed in a little bit of oil, then cooked in broth or salted water until the oats are cooked through but still a little chewy. I usually make a big batch ahead of time and reheat in the morning). It's a perfect blank slate for all sorts of toppings, and very filling. Most often I eat it with some sort of hummus, but sometimes I will have it with pesto, or peanut butter + Asian chili sauce. Leftover curries on top are great, too. Occasionally I have savory oats with cheese or a fried egg on top, both of which are awesome.
posted by creepygirl at 7:57 AM on June 18, 2010

Nthing Turkish breakfast. When I was traveling in Turkey the hotels always laid out bread, peynir (sort of like paneer cheese), olives (both dry black ones and green ones), and hard-boiled eggs at a minimum. Often there'd be some fruit and sometimes egg w/ sucuk (a type of sausage) as well.
posted by pravit at 9:30 AM on June 18, 2010

OK Cyprus here...when I visit my mum, in the morning, bleary eyed from the intensely deep black-out blind sleep, I put the kettle on....into the fridge..home-made tangerine jam, quince jam, strawberry jam; olives, cracked with cumin seed, lemon juice and garlic; cheeses, some Cypriot like Halloumi, others continental style, like Jarlesberg and Saint Agur; yoghurt and honey, maybe sprinkled with chopped almonds and cinnamon; Cypriot bread made with durum flour, toasted and spread with French butter; and a good strong coffee from a cafetiere. This isn't pure med but it's a great mix of the best things of all worlds.
One of the best things about this breakfast is that we may put all these things on the table, but we just pick and choose the elements we feel like on the morning, anything not eaten is mostly back to the fridge for another sunny start to the day.
posted by razzman at 2:49 PM on June 18, 2010 [2 favorites]

hummus on toast or pita, with tomatoes, or cucumbers, or pickles.

avocado (used as a spread) on toast or pita, with sliced hardboiled eggs and tomatoes
posted by ttyn at 9:43 PM on June 18, 2010

The Journal of the American Dietetic Association had an article titled Mediterranean Diet of Crete: Foods and Nutrient Content (Volume 100, Issue 12, December 2000, Pages 1487-1493). The study sought to describe three common Cretan diets: the traditional diet of Crete of the 1960s (diet A), the typical diet of present-day Greek adolescents (diet B) and the fasting diet of the Eastern Orthodox church (diet C) by collating 7-day weighted food records.

Diet A breakfasts were ksiniohontros rusks with an apple or orange (and occasionally some cheese or olives and herbal tea); or fresh whole milk boiled with ground wheat (sometimes with melon). Sunday was a homemade cheese pie with honey and melon.

Diet B breakfasts were chocolate milk with either a croissant, toast with ham and cheese, or cake; white bread with honey and margarine; or evaporated milk with toasted bread, honey and margarine or with sugar and cereal. Sunday was evaporated milk with sugar, egg and white bread (French toast?)

Diet C breakfasts were avocado, coffee and bread (occasionally with added sweet bread, sugar and/or tahini); or tomato, olive oil, bread, coffee, sugar and homemade halva. Sunday was coffee, sugar, bread and margarine.
posted by obiwanwasabi at 2:44 AM on June 19, 2010 [1 favorite]