French Toast

I typically buy only whole wheat bread and scoff at anything without at least 3 grams of fiber per slice. Earlier in the week, I saw some locally-made (Knickerbocker out of Madison Heights, MI) French bread on sale and bought it on a whim when I noticed that it was pretty decent nutritionally for white bread. This morning, while trying to figure out brunch, French toast popped to mind. I do make it with wheat bread, and it's okay, but it is SO GOOD made with a nice, thick French bread.  Do yourself a favor and make it with French bread; you'll be happy that you did.

French toast + Amy's sausages + watermelon = brunch

Extreme bread close-up!

Ingredients:

9 thick slices of French bread

1 cup vanilla soy milk (or use plain and add a few drops of vanilla extract)

1/4 cup chickpea flour (aka besan)

2 TBS cornstarch

1/8 tsp ground mace (you can use nutmeg if you don't have mace, but mace is nicer because it's less bitter)

1/8 tsp ground cinnamon

3 TBS coconut oil

cinnamon sugar

Instructions:

In a large bowl, whisk the chickpea flour and cornstarch into the soy milk. Add the mace and cinnamon. Keep the whisk handy.

Melt 1 TBS of the coconut oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. Whisk the soy milk mix again, then dunk the bread in, coating both sides and shaking gently to remove excess. Fry in the pan for 2 minutes, flip and wait 2 minutes, and repeat until the edges are beautifully golden (about 8 minutes total worked for me). I put 3 slices at a time in my pan - do whatever fits properly in your pan. 

Once they're golden and slightly crisp, sprinkle with cinnamon sugar and serve. 

Nutrition (per 3 slices cooked in 1 TBS coconut oil, included)

Calories: 457

Carbs: 60g (29%)

Protein: 15g (36%)

Fat: 17 g (40%)

Fiber: 4 g (16%)

Sugars: 5.6 g (16%)

Vitamin A: 3%

Vitamin C: 4%

Calcium: 18%

Iron: 23%

 

Chopped Salad

I almost didn't post this one because it doesn't feel like a real recipe, but I loved it and thought it was delicious and satisfying and very summer heat-friendly. It's simple, especially if you like chopping. If you don't like chopping, I wouldn't recommend it. The key to the chopped salad is that every ingredient is diced. It elevates something pretty banal into something where you get a lot of different flavors and textures in every bite. It's pretty versatile, too, so if I listed something you hate, you are probably fine to swap it for something else!

Cook 2 cups of edamame and toss with a little garlic, salt, and hot mustard. Put in the fridge to cool.

Dice the following:

4 cups romaine
4 cups cabbage (I'd use purple to make it prettier)
1 red bell pepper
1 green onion
1 cup bean sprouts
1 wax pepper (or another moderately hot pepper)
1 cup pea pods
1 large cucumber
1 cup water chestnuts

Important: Make sure to get ingredients as dry as possible, or you'll wind up with a nasty salad soup.

Once your salad ingredients are nice and free of excess liquid, add to a huge bowl and toss in:

Lime zest (from one lime)
2 tsp sesame seeds (I used black sesame seeds because it looks interesting)
1/4 cup toasted almond slices or slivers
2/3 cup won ton strips
The cooled edamame from step 1

At the end, add in 1/4 cup of sesame ginger dressing and toss well. I use Newman's Own Low Fat Sesame Ginger because it's really low in calories and packs a flavorful punch. You can use something else, but you'll need to adjust the nutritional information below!

You could add in mandarins, if you want, but remember to dry them as much as possible and to add them with the dressing. I did not use them because Aaron isn't a fan.

This makes a TON of salad. You should get about 13 cups. I'm the kind of person who likes to be able to eat a great quantity of food, and this allows you a massive 4-cup serving packed with nutrients and flavor.

In a 4-cup serving:

411 calories
14.5 g fat
49.3 g carbs (16%)
28 g protein (68%)
14 g fiber (56%)
204% Vitamin A
257% Vitamin C
29% Calcium
36% Iron