Friday, May 15, 2009

Coconut French Toast with Grilled Pineapple and Tropical Salsa


I remember seeing this recipe a couple of years ago in a Cooking Light magazine and finally got around to making it for breakfast.
I had some coconut milk in the fridge that I needed to use and all the fruit ready to go.
I made this on a weekday, so it ended up being more like a brunch than a breakfast because all of the steps take up a little bit of time. The end result is worth it though.
I didn't think that the french toast was overly coconut-ty, it was pretty subtle. The fruit salsa was delicious.
I just warmed up my pineapple slices in an electric skillet instead of grilling them.
All of the parts of this recipe were delicious on their own and even better when they were combined.
I love fresh fruit for breakfast and it tasted great on the french toast.
I would recommend this for a weekend brunch or get-together. It has lots of colors and flavors and it was a great way to start the day (even if it was mid-morning when we ate it!)
Coconut French Toast with Grilled Pineapple and Tropical Salsa from Cooking Light
Easy to make, this rich dish is full of flavor and color. It's best prepared with day-old bread. You can serve the pineapple slices raw, but the deep, caramelized flavors you get from cooking them in a grill pan are worth the extra effort.
Salsa:
2 tablespoons flaked sweetened coconut
2 teaspoons fresh lime juice
2 peeled ripe mangoes, chopped
1 pint strawberries, chopped
French toast:
1 cup egg substitute
1 cup light coconut milk
1 cup 1% low-fat milk
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1 (16-ounce) loaf French bread, cut into 16 slices
Cooking spray
Remaining ingredients:
1 medium pineapple, peeled, cored, and cut crosswise into 8 slices
Powdered sugar (optional)

To prepare salsa, combine first 4 ingredients; cover and chill.
Preheat oven to 400°.
To prepare French toast, combine egg substitute and next 6 ingredients (egg substitute through eggs) in a large bowl, stirring well with a whisk. Place bread in egg mixture; press down with spatula to completely submerge bread in egg mixture. Let stand 15 minutes.
Arrange soaked bread in a single layer on a jelly roll pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 400° for 12 minutes or until set. Remove from oven, and keep warm.
While bread bakes, heat a grill pan over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray.
Arrange 4 pineapple slices in pan; cook 4 minutes on each side or until pineapple begins to brown. Remove from pan; keep warm. Repeat procedure with remaining pineapple and cooking spray. Arrange 2 toast pieces on each of 8 plates; top each serving with 1 pineapple slice and 1/2 cup salsa. Sprinkle with powdered sugar, if desired.

Up Next- 3 cookies-shortbread, chocolate and ginger

13 comments:

Risa said...

Just the title of this post makes me hungry! I always make plain and simple french toast, but it looks like this would be a great treat.

Barbara Bakes said...

This is so colorful and tasty. It's great that it's light too!

Anonymous said...

Looks fantastic! All the my favorite flavors.

Sara said...

This sounds A-mazing!!

Cindy said...

Amazing flavors--it has to be delish!!

Eliana said...

Ah yes - another use for coconut. I'm always trying to figure out different ways to cook/bake with it. It's one of my favorite things.

Unknown said...

This looks fantastic! I love the combination of flavors!

Anonymous said...

I love the tropical flavors. Sounds very very delicious.

Anonymous said...

Wow, this looks great! I may whip up a big brunch tomorrow so I can try this recipe.

~Kimberly said...

I am marking this and going to have to try this soon! Sounds and looks fabulous!

The Blonde Duck said...

Ode to French toast and how I love thee...

Unknown said...

Yeah!!! Sunday Breakfast for us!

emiglia said...

This looks like great French toast! I love a new spin on something like that, especially one that looks almost quasi-healthy!