Breakfast, Vegan Detox Style

According to a study that I can't remember enough about to cite properly, sixty-one precent of Americans eat breakfast every day, or claim to. I'm sure this includes those who brek at the drive-thru or grab a twinkie on their way out the door; as far as "proper breakfast" goes, there's no telling. I have always been one who eats a proper breakfast- mainly because if I don't I'm spent by about 9:30.

My breakfast of choice is oatmeal. (Well, actually, my breakfast of choice is fried eggs, bacon, cheese grits and biscuits with blackberry jam, but for someone who has to leave the house at 7:30 to be at work at 8:00 that's not practical for everyday eating.) Long ago I learned from a fruity college roommate that quick oats are among the worst things that you can eat because the outer hull is removed from the oat to expedite cooking time, which removes almost all its fiber. So since then I've only bought the old-fashioned five minute oats. Otherwise I feel like I'm getting ripped off.

Oatmeal is perfectly reasonable for a detox breakfast, as long as you don't load it down with sugar, honey, and cow's milk, as I do. So I'm already doing something right! The proper healthy vegan breakfast consists of three pillars: grains, nuts, and fruit. (Most nutritionists will agree that one should eat a carbohydrate and a fruit with breakfast every morning, and nuts are particularly good for detoxification due to their high concentrations of healthy proteins and essential fatty acids.)

So since the cornerstone of my breakfasts will be porridge, here are some neat new grains that I will try:

• Amaranth-An ancient grain popular with the Aztecs that's higher in protein and calcium than milk.
  
• Barley- Great for bowel cleansing, barley stimulates the liver and helps control cholesterol absorption.
• Millet- High in protein, and mainly used in the United States as bird food. Ptah!
• Oats- I already eat tons of these; I guess I'll continue to.
• Quinoa- The only grain that's a complete protein. (Odd considering that I heard from another source that the only vegetarian complete source of protein is tofu. What are we to believe, what are we to believe?!)

So here's the problem: With less than an hour to get ready in the morning how will I manage to squeeze in one and a half hours of cooking time for my hulled barley? Merde. Luckily, we have a solution: thermos grains. Simply combine the indicated amount of grain and boiling water in a wide-mouthed thermos the night before, and it shall cook while you sleep.

The only problem there is that now I'll need a thermos. Along with a food processor, water filter, et al. Veganism is already expensive.