BREAKFAST OF CHAMPIONS
Skip breakfast and you’ll miss out on some big performance gains. But why would you with these four delicious recipes..?
Breakfast like a king, lunch likea prince, dinner like a pauper! Or so the saying goes. But changing lifestyles, dawn training, lunch at the desk, breakfast on the go… and sticking to a three-meal-a-day plan just doesn’t work like that for most of us anymore. Eating a good breakfast, however, whether before or after your morning workouts, will support your triathlon performance, helping you to train consistently stronger and for longer.
So first up, Buckwheat galettes with roasted vegetables. These mouthwatering savoury pancakes are packed with goodness and one of my favourite posttraining or post-race breakfasts because you can make both the mixture and the filling in advance. Return hungry from a swim and you’ll be sitting down to a filling, healthy brunch in no time!
Do you spring out of bed every morning raring to take on the world? Or do you fail to function before your second cup of coffee? If you’re the latter, then this next recipe is made for you. Why? Because you can prepare it the night before.
Chia, mango and pomegranate bircher, a cross between a chia pudding and a bircher muesli, is not only loaded with slow-releasing carbohydrate to top up your glycogen levels and keep you going through your morning workout, but also protein, vitamin C, polyphenols, fibre and important minerals such as calcium, potassium, folate and magnesium. Best to eat an hour or so before exercise.
If you need a tasty ‘grab-and-go’ for busy work mornings or to nibble en route to a race, try making a batch of my Date and walnut muffins with cinnamon streusel topping. Sweet, moreish and surprisingly healthy, these provide you with slow-releasing carbs, healthy fats, fibre, potassium and iron. Dates provide antioxidants; flavonoids and phenolic acid, which have anti-inflammatory properties; and carotenoids, proven to promote heart health.
With a good balance of carbohydrate and protein to support recovery, my final recipe is designed for your post-training brunch. Feast your eyes on my Green eggs and ham. The delicious green sauce, made with spinach, rocket and watercress, is packed with vitamins C to help keep the winter bugs at bay, too.
RECIPE OF THE MONTH
BUCKWHEAT GALETTES WITH ROASTED VEGETABLES
PREP 10mins | COOK 45mins | MAKES 8-10 galettes
INGREDIENTS For the roasted vegetables
• 1 pack red, green and yellow peppers, chopped into bite-sized pieces
• 1 small aubergine, cubed
• 1 red onion, roughly chopped
• 1 courgette, cubed
• 1 clove garlic
• 2 tbsps olive oil
• Handful fresh flat-leaf parsley, choppedFor the galettes
• 100g buckwheat flour
• 50g plain flour
• Pinch of salt
• 1 egg
• 100ml semi-skimmed milk
• 200ml water
• 30g melted butter, plus extra to cook
01 
02 
03
01 Preheat the oven to 220°C/200°C Fan/Gas 7. Put the vegetables into a bowl, add the oil, season and toss until coated. Arrange on a baking tray and roast for 30-40mins. Leave to cool, and sprinkle with parsley.
02 Meanwhile, mix the buckwheat and plain flour together, add a pinch of salt and make a small well in the centre. Break the egg into the mixture, and then add the milk and half the water. Beat together with a fork or hand whisk until smooth. Mix in the rest of the water and the melted butter until you have a consistency of thin cream.
03 Heat a large, non-stick frying pan over a medium heat. Add a knob of butter and tip so that it melts over the base of the pan. Add a small ladleful of batter and repeat so it covers the base. Cook for 2mins, flip over, cook for another 2mins.
PACK YOUR PANCAKES
3 ALTERNATIVE FILLING IDEAS
BOOST THE PROTEIN Swap the veggies for chopped ham and grated gruyere cheese at stage 4, and cook for a couple more minutes to melt the cheese.
GO KOREAN Fry spring onions in a little oil, add cooked prawns, a splash of soy sauce, sweet chilli sauce and a squeeze of lime. Add at stage 4 instead of the veg.
SPICE IT UP At stage 1, toss the vegetables with a chopped green chilli, a tin of drained chickpeas, 1 tsp each cumin, coriander and 1/2 tsp chilli powder.
MORNING ENERGY
CHIA, MANGO AND POMEGRANATE BIRCHER
PREP 5mins plus 2hrs or overnight to soak | SERVES 2
INGREDIENTS
• 40g porridge oats
• 15g chia seeds
• 150ml your preferred milk
• A few drops vanilla essence (optional)
• 1 large mango or 3 tbsps frozen mango, defrosted
• Seeds of half a pomegranate
• 60ml natural yoghurt
• Honey or maple syrup to serve
METHOD
01 The night before, or at least 2hrs before you want to eat, mix the oats and chia seeds in a bowl with the milk and vanilla, if using. Halve the mango, remove the stone and dice into small cubes. Mash half of the mango with a fork and stir into the mixture. Add the remaining mango cubes and the pomegranate seeds. Cover and refrigerate..
02 When ready to eat, stir in the yoghurt. Transfer to bowls to serve, drizzle with honey or maple syrup and scatter with a few extra chia seeds and pomegranate seeds.
GRAB AND GO
DATE AND WALNUT BREAKFAST MUFFINS
PREP 5mins | COOK 15-20mins | MAKES 12
INGREDIENTS
• 150g white self-raising flour
• 150g wholemeal self-raising flour
• 2 tsps baking powder
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 80g coconut sugar
• 1/2 tsp ginger
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 75g chopped walnuts
• 120 dates, chopped
• 2 eggs
• 90ml vegetable oil
• 1 tbsp runny honey
• 80ml milk
• 80ml natural yoghurt
For the topping
• 1 tbsp coconut sugar
• 1 tbsp plain flour
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 25g butter, softened
METHOD
01 Preheat the oven to 180°C/gas mark 4. Line a muffin tray with 12 muffin cases.
02 Make the topping. In a small bowl combine the sugar, flour and cinnamon then rub in the butter with your fingertips until you have a crumbly mixture.
03 In another bowl, mix the flours with the salt, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, sugar and spices. Stir in walnuts and dates.
04 Pour into the bowl with the dry ingredients and combine. Don’t worry if lumpy. Spoon into the cases, add the topping to each and bake for 15-20mins until risen and golden brown. Cool on a wire rack.
BRUNCH WITH A PUNCH
GREEN EGGS AND HAM
PREP 10mins | COOK 5mins | SERVES 2
INGREDIENTS
• 2 slices toast
• 80-100g pack spinach
• 15g butter
• 1 tsp cornflour
• 120ml milk
• Pinch of nutmeg
• 2 eggs
• 2 tsps white wine vinegar
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 slices cooked ham
• Chilli flakes
METHOD
01 Make the sauce by placing the spinach in a pan with a splash of water and the butter. Cook over a gentle heat for a couple of minutes, stirring frequently, until the leaves have wilted. Transfer to a blender. Add the cornflour, milk, salt, pepper and nutmeg and blitz until smooth.
02 Return mix to the saucepan and cook over a gentle heat for 2mins, stirring until thick. Keep warm while you cook the eggs.
03 Bring another saucepan of water to boil. Add a pinch of salt and the vinegar. When the water is bubbling, crack both eggs and pop in. Reduce the heat and cook for around 2mins. Meanwhile toast and butter your bread and lay a slice of ham on top.
04 Place each egg on top of the ham. Spoon over the green sauce. Finish off with chilli flakes.
WANT MORE OF A WAKE UP? Stir in 1 tsp grated ginger at stage 1. Add more later if you’d like even more fire!
GET MORE VITS AND MINS Reduce sugar to 40g at step 2 and add a nutrient-rich mashed banana at step 3.
GO VEGAN Swap the eggs and ham for cubes of tofu and baby tomatoes, baked in a little oil for 20-30mins until crisp.
KATE PERCY
Sports nutrition cook and keen amateur athlete Kate Percy set up the #GoFaster campaign in 2009 and, following the publication of several sports nutrition books, now produces a range of all-natural energy balls, Go Bites (katepercys.com).