My Great, Big, Yummy Breakfast: Pistachio-Crusted Matcha Green Tea and Coconut French Toast

Nutrition pioneer Adelle Davis once said, “Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a pauper.” Now science confirms that was she spot on, and most of us have our daily calorie intake turned upside down. Two 2013 studies (one conducted at Tel Aviv University and the other by researchers from Brigham and Women's Hospital, Tufts University, and the University of Murcia in Spain), studied how changing the timing of meals by switching a high-calorie dinner with a high-calorie breakfast but keeping the total daily calories the same would impact weight loss. The results of both studies conclude that a great strategy for losing weight is to make breakfast the biggest meal of the day. That makes sense, because eating the most calories earlier in the day gives you more time throughout the day to burn those calories off. But even if you don't want to lose weight, there are other significant advantages to eating heavier in the morning and lighter in the evening. Starting the day with a big breakfast causes your body to have significantly lower levels of the hunger-regulating hormone ghrelin, making you feel more satiated and far less likely to snack in-between meals. Additionally, eating within one hour of waking jump-starts your body’s metabolism, and a large breakfast appears to keep your metabolism revved up throughout the day. Since I hate feeling hungry and love feeling energetic, this is one strategy I am doing my best to adopt. On days that I stick to it, I notice a dramatic difference in the way I feel throughout the day and even in the quality of sleep I get at night.

Lucky for me, breakfast is quite often my favorite meal of the day. (I have been known to eat breakfast for dinner!) While most days, many of us don't have time to prepare an elaborate breakfast, on weekends and holidays we often have the luxury of a little extra time to prepare a special breakfast feast. So I rounded up a few of my favorite ingredients, and came up with this recipe for Pistachio-Crusted Matcha Green Tea and Coconut French Toast. Choose a nice, crusty, whole-grain bread for this recipe, and be sure you toast it first.

Pistachio-Crusted Matcha Green Tea and Coconut French Toast
 
4-6 slices crusty, whole-grain bread, toasted
3/4 cup non-dairy milk (I used So Delicious Coconut Milk Beverage)
1/4 cup non-dairy creamer (I used So Delicious French Vanilla Coconut Milk Creamer)
1 tsp matcha green tea powder (I used Kiss Me Organics Matcha Powder)
1 large or 2 small, very ripe banana(s)
1/2 cup plus 1 Tbsp unsalted roasted pistachios
1 Tbsp flour (any kind will do)
1 tsp vegetable oil
1 tsp organic raw cane sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/8 tsp almond extract
Vegetable oil for coating the pan
Organic powdered sugar and coconut

Combine the coconut milk, creamer, and matcha green tea powder in a blender, and pulse a few times to allow the matcha to blend into the liquid. Add banana, 1/2 cup of pistachios, flour, vegetable oil, sugar, vanilla and almond extracts, and blend until smooth.

Pour mixture into a large bowl. Lightly oil a large non-stick skillet, and heat on medium-low. 
Dip a slice of bread into the mixture to coat well on each side, being careful not to soak.

Add the bread slices to the pan, and slowly cook until nicely browned on both sides. Sprinkle each slice with powdered sugar, coconut, and reserved 1 tablespoon of pistachios. Serve with maple syrup.