Mushroom, Bacon, and Swiss Strata

Breakfast casseroles are ideal for overnight guests. Assemble it the night before, and bake in the morning.

Yield: 8 servings

Ingredients

• 12  ounces  ciabatta, cut into 1-inch cubes (about 7 cups)
• 2  tablespoons  butter
• 2  cups  chopped onion
• 2  (8-ounce) packages presliced mushrooms
• Cooking spray
• 1 1/2  cups  (6 ounces) shredded reduced-fat Swiss cheese
• 8  center-cut bacon slices, cooked and crumbled
• 3  cups  1% low-fat milk
• 1 1/2  cups  egg substitute
• 2  teaspoons  chopped fresh thyme
• 1/2  teaspoon  freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4  teaspoon  salt
• Thyme sprigs (optional)

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350°.

Arrange bread in a single layer on a jelly-roll pan. Bake at 350° for 20 minutes or until toasted. Place bread cubes in a large bowl.

Melt butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and mushrooms to pan; sauté 10 minutes or until liquid evaporates and vegetables are tender. Add onion mixture to bread; toss well to combine. Arrange half of bread mixture in a 13 x 9-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle with half of cheese and half of bacon; top with remaining bread mixture, cheese, and bacon.

Combine milk and next 4 ingredients (through salt), stirring with a whisk. Pour milk mixture over bread mixture. Cover and refrigerate 8 hours.

Preheat oven to 350°.

Remove strata from refrigerator; let stand at room temperature for 15 minutes. Bake strata, covered, at 350° for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake an additional 15 minutes or until set. Let stand 10 minutes before serving. Garnish with thyme sprigs, if desired.

Nutritional Information

Calories:

313 (30% from fat)

Fat:

10.4g (sat 5g,mono 4.2g,poly 0.8g)

Protein:

21.7g

Carbohydrate:

35.5g

Fiber:

2.7g

Cholesterol:

25mg

Iron:

1.9mg

Sodium:

737mg

Calcium:

318mg