Coconut French Toast with Grilled Pineapple and Tropical Salsa

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.

Yield: 8 servings

Ingredients

• 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)

Preparation

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.

Nutritional Information

Calories:

350 (15% from fat)

Fat:

5.7g (sat 2.3g,mono 1.4g,poly 0.8g)

Protein:

11.4g

Carbohydrate:

64.8g

Fiber:

4.4g

Cholesterol:

54mg

Iron:

2.8mg

Sodium:

523mg

Calcium:

112mg