The goal is to strike a balance: find quick and easy recipes that balance carbohydrates – derived from whole grains, fruits and vegetables – with a lean protein. One protein to consider for breakfast is turkey, which is available in a variety of breakfast-friendly and often gluten-free cuts, including links, bacon and ground. Jennie-O offers many quick and easy breakfast recipes on SwitchToTurkey.com and jennieo.com. “It’s time for Americans to drop their soggy cereal, pudge-inducing pastries and boring granola,” says Barry Lynch of the Jennie-O Turkey Store. “The new year is a perfect time to start each day right with a convenient, protein-rich breakfast using turkey.”

To help incentivize Americans to start the day off right with a nutritious and complete breakfast, Jennie-O is kicking off a Breakfast Hall of Lame contest on SwitchToTurkey.com. Now through Jan. 31, consumers who visit SwitchToTurkey.com can enter the contest by submitting a photo of their uninspiring breakfast or a picture of themselves with their breakfast. The person whose photo receives the highest number of votes by Jan. 31 will win the grand prize: a two-week stay at The Biggest Loser Resort, in either location: Mailbu, Calif. or Ivins, Utah. Complete rules are available on SwitchToTurkey.com. Find recipes – including a breakfast burrito, breakfast pizza and sassy scrambled eggs with JENNIE-O turkey sausage links – as well as tips on safe handling instructions for turkey on the company’s website.

Breakfast Burrito

1 Package JENNIE-O Extra Lean Ground Turkey Breast

1 1/4 teaspoon onion powder

1 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1 1/4 teaspoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1 egg and 1 egg white

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

1/2 cup wheat bran

1/2 green bell pepper, chopped

1/2 red bell pepper, chopped

1 (15 ounce) can of black beans, drained

8 whole wheat MANNY’S tortillas

Directions: Put the ground turkey breast in a mixing bowl. Add onion and garlic powder, paprika, and pepper; mix thoroughly. Add egg, egg white, applesauce, and wheat bran; stir well. Refrigerate the mixture for at least 30 minutes or overnight. Preheat a large non-stick skillet to medium high and coat lightly with cooking spray. Add the ground turkey mixture and stir to crumble and brown, 14 minutes. Always cook turkey to well-done, 165 F as measured by a meat thermometer. Reduce heat to medium. Add bell peppers and saute with meat for 5 minutes, continuing to stir and break up the turkey into smaller pieces. Drain the beans and add to the skillet. Cook an additional 2 to 3 minutes. Fill tortillas with mixture. Additional sides, if desired, light shredded cheddar cheese, CHI-CHI’s salsa, WHOLLY GUACAMOLE dip, lime juice, and cilantro. Serving suggestions – scrambled eggs or egg whites and fresh fruit.

When it comes to salads, I’m not big fan of the composed variety. As in, fussy recipes that call for anything beyond dumping a bunch of produce in a bowl. 
But composed salads — those in which the ingredients are arranged rather than tossed — are among the most attractive. They also often do a better job of letting each ingredient shine. So I was willing to consider trying one on two conditions — the flavors really were phenomenal and the recipe was still mostly easy. 
To ensure the former, I went with a classic flavor combination — apples, blue cheese, walnuts and lemon juice. For the latter, I made sure that even if the ingredients were arranged, the recipe wasn’t fussy enough to require any particular arrangement. In other words, do it as you see fit. 
For deeper flavors, I briefly roasted the apples and carrots. To keep it simple, I used purchased shredded carrots and limited the cutting to just slicing the apples in half. Buy crumbled blue cheese and pre-toasted walnuts, and the rest of this salad comes together almost effortlessly. 
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Roasted Apple and Blue Cheese Salad 
Start to finish: 45 minutes (15 minutes active) 
Servings: 4 
1 cup thickly shredded carrots 
1/4 cup, plus 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, divided 
Kosher salt and ground black pepper 
2 large Granny Smith apples 
2 tablespoons brown sugar 
2 tablespoons lemon juice 
4 cups arugula 
1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese 
1/4 cup chopped, toasted walnuts 
Heat the oven to 400 F. Coat a rimmed baking sheet with cooking spray. 
In a small bowl, toss the shredded carrots with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil, and a pinch each of salt and pepper. Arrange in an even layer on the baking sheet. 
Peel each apple, then halve it down the center. Use a melon baller to scoop out the core, creating a large cavity at the center of each half. 
Arrange the apple halves, cut side up, on the prepared baking sheet. If the apples won’t rest flat, use a knife to trim the rounded sides just enough to form a flat base. Roast the apples and carrots for 12 to 14 minutes, or until the apples are just tender, but not mushy. Remove the carrots from the pan and set aside to cool. 
Increase the oven to broil. Leave the apples on the baking sheet and sprinkle them with the brown sugar. Broil for 2 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes. 
Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whisk together the remaining 1/4 cup of olive oil, the lemon juice, 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper. Add the arugula and carrots and toss well to coat. 
Carefully place each apple half on a serving plate. Mound a quarter of the arugula mixture onto each half. Sprinkle each salad with blue cheese and walnuts. 
Nutrition information per serving (values are rounded to the nearest whole number): 355 calories; 257 calories from fat (72 percent of total calories); 27 g fat (6 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 13 mg cholesterol; 24 g carbohydrate; 6 g protein; 4 g fiber; 324 mg sodium. 
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EDITOR’S NOTE: Food Editor J.M. Hirsch is author of the cookbook “High Flavor, Low Labor: Reinventing Weeknight Cooking.” Follow him to great eats on Twitter at http://twitter.com/JM—Hirsch or e-mail him at jhirsch(at)ap.org.