Breakfast special: Hold the grease!

We all know by now that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Everyone from our mothers to the President's Council on Physical Fitness has told us so.

Somehow, though, going out for breakfast usually means ingesting a heap of greasy hash browns, a side of bacon and a three-egg omelet loaded with cheese. Not that there's anything wrong with that; it doesn't get much better than a plate of sausage and buttery pancakes covered in maple syrup.

But if you are looking for a healthier start to the morning, there are several options around the Twin Cities that will fill you up without toppling your nutritional pyramid. Here are a few that are worth a visit.

Trotter's Cafe and Bakery has a small-town feel that is an extension of how the Trotter family does business. "We live just blocks away, and most of our customers come from around the neighborhood, so we are grounded in the local community," says Dick Trotter, who runs the cafe with his wife, Pat.

The same can be said of the ingredients that go into the food. Trotter takes pride in sourcing from Minnesota providers who specialize in organic, free-range and natural foods: "Knowing where the food comes from and how it is raised is more important than an organic label."

Local food products spend less time being transported, and therefore are fresher and retain more nutrients. At Trotter's, this translates to hearty breakfasts that are free of additives and excessive salt, yet are filled with flavor.

There's a similar vibe at the Birchwood Cafe, nestled in the Seward neighborhood of Minneapolis. Wholesome breakfasts made with organic and local ingredients are dished up in a low-key, unpretentious atmosphere. There is a definite vegetarian emphasis here, but the Birchwood also makes its own delicious wild-rice sausage using natural pork and serves other meats, as well. While the menu is short, it would take many visits to order the same thing twice, as the variations of quiches, scrambles and waffles change daily. The waffles are a highlight, with the folks behind the counter coming up with a wide range of exciting flavors, including pumpkin, ginger, roasted pecan and buckwheat with blueberries.

Cafe Barbette places such an emphasis on healthfulness that many plates come with a mixed-greens side salad. But not to worry, breakfast purists, the joint cooks up some of the best crispy-without-the-grease hash browns around. And it's a nice surprise that prices are comparable to some spots that serve hash browns from the freezer and muffins out of the food-vendor truck.

There are a number of dishes on the menu at Day by Day Cafe that your cardiologist might not recommend, but there also are plenty of smart choices. Whole-grain breads, natural maple syrup, tofu, buckwheat pancakes and a substantial à la carte listing that focuses on fruit are standards here. The relaxing atmosphere, especially on the tree-shaded rear patio during the summer months, makes this a great place for a morning chat over homemade granola and coffee.

The menu at Moose & Sadie's is short and somewhat unspectacular -- the place is first and foremost a coffee shop. But it's the sum of its parts -- like the locally sourced eggs and the natural meats -- that make this spot worth a stop for more than just good coffee. "We make our food from scratch using organic products whenever possible," says Moose & Sadie's co-owner Peter Kirihara. There are not many bowls of oatmeal that will convert the oatmeal antagonist, but Moose & Sadie's serves one of them: a chewy steel-cut bowl of oats topped with dried cranberries, raisins and toasted walnuts.

Good Earth restaurants are a bit too corporate for some, but their nutritious breakfasts are as good as it gets for a quasi-chain. Real health nuts start with the beet, wheat grass and carrot juice concoction, although the fresh-squeezed lemonade sweetened with a whole puréed apple works fine for the rest of us. After that, there are a number of options for both meat-eaters and vegetarians. A variety of greaseless omelets and scrambles, large whole-grain pancakes, all-natural bacon and ham and a variety of fruits make this a good spot to start the day.

Any listing of "granola" breakfast joints must include the French Meadow Bakery, a pioneer in the Twin Cities health-food scene. The organic bakery's focus is on whole-grain-based foods: waffles, French toast, granola, nutty pancakes and an eye-popping array of fresh pastries. There's much more to the varied menu, though, and with tasty entrees like organic eggs, smoked salmon and spinach scramble with hemp toast, it's easy to see why the cafe is a favorite meeting place for both breakfast fans and the health-conscious.

Peter Kastler is a co-contributor to TwinCitiesBreakfast.com and is better known on vita.mn as power-user PeterHDK.