Katie Lee Knows The Importance Of Breakfast While Traveling

When it comes to breakfast, you can't just settle. That's why The Food Network and Cooking Channel's Katie Lee partnered up with Hyatt Place New York for the launch the #WhySettle Build Your Own Breakfast Bowls. The complimentary station allows guests to create customized bowls, which is part of the hotel's You've Come Too Far to Settle Now promotion.

When it comes to the most important meal of the day, Hyatt wants guests to enjoy a delicious, healthy breakfast. With the customizable breakfast bowls and Oikos nonfat Greek yogurt parfaits, guests are sure to find the right balance to fit their morning routine – from premium ingredients, such as cage-free eggs and all-natural bacon and sausage, to more indulgent ones, including a warm caramelized banana yogurt topping.

The launch of the new breakfast options was celebrated with the first-ever #WhySettle Battle of the Breakfast Bowls cooking contest at Hyatt Place New York. Hosted and judged by Katie Lee, American cookbook author, host of Cooking Channel's Beach Bites and co-host of Food Network's The Kitchen, the cooking contest invited five student chefs from the Institute of Culinary Education to create the next iteration of the Hyatt Place Build Your Own Breakfast Bowls in under 30 minutes.

The panel of judges included Lee; chef Mark Krystopa, director of culinary operations for Hyatt Place and Hyatt House; and Ksenia Avdulova, founder of @BreakfastCriminals, a digital platform dedicated to starting your day right.

"We know our new Build Your Own Breakfast Bowls and Greek yogurt parfaits will help our guests fuel up for the day ahead – whether it's tackling that big meeting or building new relationships, we know our guests never settle when they're on the road," said Steven Dominguez, vice president of global brands for Hyatt Place and Hyatt House. "The new Hyatt Place breakfast is more than just a complimentary hotel breakfast – with upgraded ingredients, variety and customization, it is sure to exceed guest expectations."

Available at Hyatt Place hotels across the United States and Canada, the themed breakfast bowls and Greek yogurt parfaits are offered throughout the week to add variety for guests and get their days started right. These tasty, healthy options range from the Classic American Bowl, with cage-free eggs, all-natural bacon or sausage, and a sweet side of pancakes or waffles to the sweet Bananas Foster Parfait, made of Oikos nonfat Greek vanilla yogurt topped with bananas Foster compote and caramel.

The winning breakfast bowl, The Nomad Bowl, created by Brooke DiResta, featured a soft-boiled cage-free egg, toasted ancient grains with kale, sausage crumbles and charred lemony asparagus ribbons. In addition to winning the coveted title of #WhySettle Breakfast Bowl Champion, DiResta also received $10,000 to continue pursuing her culinary passion and a free three-night stay at any Hyatt Place hotel in the U.S.

The Daily Meal had the chance to chat with Katie Lee about her involvement with Hyatt's brand, the launch of the #WhySettle bowls, and her love for breakfast!

The Daily Meal: What's your #WhySettle story and how did you get involved with Hyatt Place's initiative?

Katie Lee: I was so excited to get involved because I'm a huge fan of breakfast, especially bowls. I read a study that when you eat out a bowl, you feel more satisfied and I completely subscribe to that theory. There's something about it that feels really comforting. I've been traveling a lot for work – I'm in hotels quite a bit and to have the option to have something healthy like this that I can start off with and customize it for whatever I want to eat, that's really appealing to me. I love this idea of #WhySettle, I mean why should you settle for something boring when you can start with something really good to start your day?

With the emphasis on breakfast always being so important, what does breakfast ultimately mean to you?

Breakfast for me is fuel. When I'm starting my day, I want to feel good and get a lot done. I usually work out before breakfast so I'm hungry when it's time to eat. I like to put something in my body to start off with that's good for me. With my job, I have to eat a lot and it's not always the healthiest foods. So if I can start my day with something fresh and good for me, I feel like I'm ahead of the game.

How do you stay so fit always being around food?

I have to exercise constantly. It's a constant battle to stay in shape and eat the way that I do. I'm not one of those people who says they can eat whatever they want. Quite frankly, I don't believe the people who do say that. I work out almost every day. It's usually about 90 minutes of Tracy Anderson five or six days a week. I want to fit in my skinny jeans and I want to eat everything I like to eat so I gotta pay the piper.

What are your thoughts about the ingredients that Hyatt chose for the #WhySettle bowls?

You know what? I really like the ingredients that are part of this breakfast bowl promotion. You've got your kale and quinoa, so you're getting a lot of fiber. You've got your vegetables, your eggs —a nice shot of protein. There's avocado, get some healthy fats. It's all things that I want to eat in my daily real life and certainly when I'm traveling.

Are you more of a savory bowl fan versus sweet?

Oh no no. I eat Greek yogurt and fruit almost every single day so I can go either way. It depends on my mood.

What's an ingredient you incorporate in your own bowls besides the standard kale and quinoa?

I sort of throw whatever I have on hand. I always have something different in my fridge depending on the season. Today you saw a lot of asparagus. We're still in asparagus season. So it really just depends. In the wintertime, I love roasted butternut squash and eggs. It just depends on the season.

What's the next food trend you see coming?

I think we're going to continue this wave of people being more interested in healthier food. I think millennials are smart when it comes to their meal choices. Yes, it's fun to indulge. We all like have those moments but I think day-to-day, more and more people are becoming interested in what they're putting in their bodies and the return they get from their investment.

With that said, what do you think of the unicorn craze?

I think that it's fun! I always enjoy seeing people's Instagram with all the fun, crazy foods they've got going. Now there's the mermaid trend. I love the mermaid toast. I think that looks so cool.

What's next for you? What's your next project?

Right now Beach Bites is airing, that's my show on Cooking Channel — Thursday nights at 10 p.m. Every week, I'm doing a Live Insta Story during the airing of Beach Bites so my followers can tune into the show and on Instagram, we can all watch together. They can ask me questions and it's really fun. I'm all about summer.

Any fun summer plans not work related?

I live out on the east end of Long Island, and I'm just planning to be on the beach and cook and hang out and do as little as possible.