Grapefruit with Vanilla-Honey and Coconut

Each Thursday, Emily Vikre (a.k.a fiveandspice) will be sharing a new way to love breakfast -- because breakfast isn't just the most important meal of the day. It's also the most awesome.

Today: What you really want to eat right now.

‘Tis the season of good intentions, of swearing you’ll keep a diary this time and be nicer to your in-laws, of renewing gym memberships and doing juice cleanses. There are few things that get my nose more out of joint than “cleanses.” I’ll spare you my lecture -- though I swear it’s a really riveting lecture, full of trenchant observations and vehement pronouncements -- and just say that the idea that we can or should cleanse to somehow make up for eating badly all the rest of the time seems to me symptomatic of a culturally-disordered attitude toward food. Clean food and indulgent food aren’t actually opposites, and I think we should take an approach toward food that is always thoughtful or intentional regardless of the season. Just think about what you want before you eat -- sometimes you find you really do want a piece of cake, sometimes you’d rather have the feeling you get from eating miso soup -- don’t waffle between a free-for-all and restrictive cleansing.

Phew. Okay. That wasn’t a lecture, was it? It was maybe kind of a lecture. Sorry. Anyway, here I am saying I don’t like cleanses, and now I’m going to go ahead and offer a breakfast that looks suspiciously like cleanse food. Grapefruit is practically the poster child for dieting intentions gone awry, a dubious honor it shares with cabbage soup and celery. But in the dead of winter, grapefruit is also really, really good. I find eating grapefruit wonderfully invigorating, the way it gives you bracing bitter and juicy sweet all wrapped up in a single colorful fruit. And, after a week of eating cookies at most breakfasts, grapefruit was what I discovered my body really wanted.

Supreming a grapefruit in the morning may seem like a lot of effort, but I find it easier than trying to dig out all the meaty bits with a spoon. Plus it looks so pretty! I drizzled my grapefruit slices with a warm, caramel honey sauce flecked with vanilla beans. Then I topped it with toasted coconut to give it crunch and a little more staying power. Maybe it was cleansing, maybe it wasn’t. It tasted fantastic, and I’m feeling ready for the New Year!

Grapefruit with Vanilla-Honey and Coconut

Serves 4

1/3 cup unsweetened, shredded coconut
4 ruby grapefruits
1/3 cup honey
2 tablespoons salted butter
1/2 vanilla bean
Yogurt for serving, if desired

See the full recipe (and save and print it) here.

Photos by Emily Vikre