Savory French Toast- A New Spin on Brunch

This weekend I had bread, eggs, and avocado, and found myself trying to think of something to make. Of course, there is always scrambled eggs and toast, but I wanted something a little different. I finally landed on some form of French toast, and this is what I got!

First, to make French toast, you basically take 2 eggs, beat them well, and if you have it (and, it's better this way) put in a little of whatever type of milk you have on hand. You could definitely use only egg whites, just use a bit more so the volume is the same. Then, soak the bread. Be sure to move it around so all the parts of both sides are in the egg mixture for a while. When the egg is all soaked up, you're ready to cook! If this was sweet French toast I'd sprinkle with cinnamon, but instead I sprinkled with salt and pepper.

Now, you heat a griddle, or a good sized frying pan, and spread around your butter product of choice (I used Earth Balance). I don't really think cooking spray is going to work here. Drop the bread on the pan, and cook until the bottom is brown, then flip. You want it to be brown on each side, but you don't want to cook it longer than you need to or else it'll be dry.

Now... the toppings!

I went with a trio of toppings.... 1. smashed avocado (yes, that is like half an avocado, I didn't want to waste it! as a side note, in order to preserve the other half the avocado, rub a lime or lemon wedge all over the cut surface and it won't turn brown) 2. salsa 3. cheezy mixture- mine was a wedge of laughing cow cheese smushed up with a little salsa. you could also use cottage cheese, or ricotta, or cream cheese- any soft cheese to add some creaminess. Since there is no syrup, you want to be sure you have enough topping to make it all moist.

This was slightly weird, but really pretty good- it was definitely a nice change of pace from the usual scramble I always make, and it definitely highlighted the avocado (mmmmmmmm avocado. when I was a child, I was afraid of avocado and refused to eat it- I now refer to those as 'the lost years'.). 

If you were having a brunch, you could even make the base French toast recipe, and then provide different toppings (sweet vs savory) for people to choose from. If you're going to make a lot of French toast, I'd stick with the 1 egg/bread piece, but you can soak more pieces in a 9x13 pan.

Give it a try!