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TCP Kitchen

Breakfast Foods

Start your day right—or finish it right—with rewarding home-cooked dishes

Is breakfast the most important meal of the day? It depends on whom you ask, but in my opinion, waking up to the smell of coffee brewing and bacon sizzling is one of the most pleasurable things in life. I hope my fellow “morning people” carve out time to enjoy a leisurely breakfast made with one of this month’s recipes. And for you night owls, there’s no rule saying you can’t have breakfast for dinner!

Our winning reader recipes are splurge-worthy and delicious, but our feature is a slightly lighter dish from chef Virginia Willis’ book, “Lighten Up, Y’all: Classic Southern Recipes Made Healthy and Wholesome.”

Multigrain Pecan Waffles

2 cups low-fat buttermilk
1/2 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
2/3 cup whole-wheat pastry flour
2/3 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/3 cup chopped pecans
1/4 cup whole-grain cornmeal
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon canola oil
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1. Mix well the buttermilk and oats in a medium bowl and set aside for 15 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, whisk together the pastry flour, all-purpose flour, pecans, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in a large bowl.

3. Stir eggs, oil and vanilla into the buttermilk-oat mixture. With a rubber spatula, mix in dry ingredients just until moistened.

4. Coat a waffle iron with nonstick cooking spray and preheat. When the iron is hot, spoon in enough batter to cover three-quarters of the surface (about 2/3 cup for an 8-inch round waffle iron). Cook until the waffles are crisp and golden brown, 4–5 minutes. Repeat with remaining batter. Serve immediately.

Servings: 6. Serving size: 1 8-inch round waffle. Per serving: 256 calories, 9.27 g protein, 11.92 g fat, 27.30 g carbohydrates, 3.09 g dietary fiber, 532 mg sodium, 4.76 g sugars, 65 mg cholesterol

Reprinted from “Lighten Up, Y’all: Classic Southern Recipes Made Healthy and Wholesome” (Ten Speed Press, 2015) by Virginia Willis