Brunching the Healthy Way
Fork in one hand, knife in the other, I sat upright at the brunch table as the waitress distributed the meals off her tray. Chicken and waffles for me, cinnamon roll pancakes for my mother, challah French toast for my father, and lemon poppy seed pancakes for my sister. Looking around, it was easy to see that brunch is an easy meal to splurge on. After all, it is known for it’s laidback atmosphere, decedent dishes, sumptuous cocktails, and other treats that you wouldn’t typically enjoy during a normal breakfast and lunch.
If you are someone looking to cut back on calories, brunch might be something you never look forward to and maybe even want to avoid entirely. If that’s you, here are some tips to help you navigate through a brunch menu the healthy way.
Let’s start off with two brunch staples, pancakes and waffles. Obviously these two brunch dishes are going to be on the unhealthy side of brunch, but if that is truly what you want it is alright to treat yourself to them once in awhile. Virtually there isn’t much of a difference between the two health wise, but there are ways to make them somewhat healthier than they typically would be.
First, check the menu to see if the restaurant offers whole wheat or buckwheat. Either of these would make for a more nutrient dense pancake or waffle. Toast in Birmingham features their famous Hippie Cakes, which are buckwheat quinoa pancakes topped with granola, fresh berries, and a lemon crema.
Toast’s Hippie Cakes are an excellent example of what to look for if you are looking for a healthier pancake while you are out to brunch, but they also bring up an important point. Watch the toppings. Make sure to check with the waitress when it comes to toppings. You might be led to believe that strawberry topped pancakes aren’t much worse than regular pancakes because all that is added to them is fruit. What you might not know is that restaurants normally douse the strawberries in sugar water creating strawberry syrup, and that is not a healthy topping. Fresh fruit is always a healthy add on to pancakes or waffles. It will add some extra sweetness and flavor to your meal allowing you to skip the maple syrup and butter.
Finally, watch your portion sizes. Some brunch joints are famous for their pancakes that are the size of the entire plate. If that was laid in front of you, keep in mind that eating more than one to one and a half of them is certainly too much.
With pancakes and waffles being dishes that obviously lean more toward the heavy side of brunch, those looking to eat something healthier frequently venture towards oatmeal or a yogurt parfait. Both of these dishes are great picks when looking to eat healthy, but there are still a few things to watch for with them. Yogurt parfaits consist of yogurt, which can be high in sugar, in addition to fruit and granola. Some granola is made with large amounts of oil, butter and sugar so before ordering, it would be wise to ask the waitress what type of yogurt and granola they serve.
Oatmeal is typically served with brown sugar and milk. A “healthy” serving of brown sugar is less than a tablespoon, while most restaurants give you a couple of tablespoons on the side. When ordering oatmeal it is important to stay prudent with the brown sugar.
Parks and Rec Diner in Detroit serves bruleed oatmeal that consists of seeds, oats, raisins and brown sugar melted on top of a cup of oatmeal until it crisps. While this oatmeal is extremely popular it is certainly not healthy because of the caramelized coat of sugar that covers it.
The Commonwealth in Birmingham does a good job of making sure their parfaits and oatmeal are both healthy menu options, offering almond milk and fresh fruit with their oatmeal and house made Greek yogurt that is rich in protein with their parfaits.
Eddie Johnson, a personal trainer at Iron City gym in Waterford, agreed that oatmeal or yogurt are good and healthy brunch options but also suggested people try eggs their next brunch out.
“I always eat eggs for breakfast,” said Johnson. “Egg whites are high in protein, while the yolk contains Vitamins D and B.”
With that being said, omelets are a healthy and nutritious brunch option. They provide you with not only eggs, but also allow you to add in other important foods such as spinach and other vegetables.
Mark Hample, the owner of the Laundry in Fenton shared that his restaurant features many dishes that contain vegetables they grew in their own garden.
“When you eat at the Laundry you know you are getting fresh and healthy meals,” said Hample. “All of the dishes that contain vegetables are made with vegetables from local farms and even our very own garden that is located behind the restaurant.”
Aside from omelets, if you are looking to order a typical two egg, keep in mind that some ways eggs are cooked are healthier than others. For example, poached eggs are nothing but an egg cooked in a hot pot of water, making them one of the healthiest options. Fried eggs are eggs cooked in a frying pan with butter, making them not as healthy as a poached egg. Scrambled eggs are when the egg whites and egg yolks are mixed together, then cooked in a pan until fluffy.
“With scrambled eggs, some people think the yolk is bad for you because it is high in cholesterol,” said Johnson. “If that is something you are worried about ask them to use one whole egg and one egg white, this will give you some of the benefits of the yolk while still cutting back on cholesterol and calories.”
Eggs and omelets are both meals that would be considered to be on the lighter side of brunch food, but other egg dishes are not. Eggs Benedict as well as Huevos Rancheros are two dishes you’ll want to avoid. Both of these dishes pack in large amounts of fat and calories. Huevos Rancheros often consist of fried eggs, beans, and rice. A healthy alternative to this would be to see if you could substitute the rice for lettuce or completely forego it, while making sure the beans are black and not pinto.
Eggs Benedict consists of poached eggs, which are healthy, but they are laid on top of an English muffin and drenched in a hollandaise sauce, which is a mixture of egg yolk, butter, and lemon. Unfortunately, there is no way to make that healthy.
If you are leaning toward the lunch side of brunch, stay away from white bread. Asking your server if a sandwich you are interested in can be made with wheat instead of white is an easy way to make a sandwich healthier.
If you are feeling like a burger, first, look to see if the restaurant offers a turkey burger. If they don’t, don’t worry! There are still ways to make it healthier. One idea is to order it bun less, this eliminates a ton of unnecessary carbs. Another idea is to forego cheese or bacon and ask if you can top it with avocado and other veggies instead.
Moral of the story, brunch can be healthy! So, don’t be afraid to enjoy a brunch out with friends, and honestly…sometimes it’s ok to splurge.
