Coconut French Toast with Grilled Pineapple and Tropical Salsa and Vanilla Syrup

Coconut French Toast with Grilled Pineapple and Tropical Salsa

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. Yield: 8 servings

*I usually don't make the salsa with this recipe. I make a fruit salsa with 1 pint strawberries, 1 small can mandarin oranges, and 1 kiwi and use a hand chopper or food processor to chop until salsa consistency. Then I serve it with this syrup:

Vanilla Syrup
1 cup sugar
½ cup butter
½ cup buttermilk (or sour milk*)
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla

In a saucepan, boil sugar, butter, buttermilk and baking soda about 1 minute. Mix in vanilla.