Baked French Toast with Pumpkin and Fenugreek leaves

In an attempt to maintain Breakfast as the most healthiest meal of the day, this dish was whipped up for breakfast this morning. Fenugreek as I have mentioned in many of my posts has several health benefits, some of which I have mentioned in the Health Tips blog section. You can use any fruit you like. Pumpkin is an excellent source of protein and it is important to load on more protein vs. carbs for breakfast. I used wholewheat brown bread. You can also substitute with multigrain bread. Alternatively, you can also top with walnuts, raisins or almonds. 

There is no rocket science to making French toast so I was thinking twice on whether I should post such a simple recipe. This was the first time I attempted to bake French Toast Vs.fry it on a pan with butter as base. I must admit it was not easy initially as I tried to place the dipped bread on tin foil with butter base but it stuck on and was not possible to flip over. I had to manually take it off the foil and/or flip over with the foil on. I then remembered of a similar situation I had with making bread in the oven. I placed the next batch straight on the baking tray that came with the oven and lightly dabbed some EVOO before placing it on the tray.

French Toast with Pumpkin and Fenugreek leaves

You need:

• 4 egg whites or 2 full eggs
• 6 slices of wholewheat brown bread or multigrain brown bread
• 1/2 cup milk
• 3-4 tbsp of wild honey *we got some on A's visit to Munnar
• Drizzle(s) of EVOO (Extravegine Olive oil)
• Powdered Cinnamon - 1" stick
• 1 sprig of Fenugreek leaves - diced finely
• 1 cup of ripened or half-ripened Pumpkin diced small
• 1/2 cup grated cheese (optional)

The make:

Cooking Time:15 minutes|Preparation Time: 10 minutes|Serves 2

1. Whisk the eggs whites until nice and fluffy in a bowl. Try and use a hand whisk with thin metal wires.

Whisked ingredients

 2. Add honey,milk, fenugreek leaves and powdered cinnamon. Beat well.
 3. Next add the diced pumpkin and whisk well.
 4. You can refrigerate this blend overnight or make a fresh just before baking.
 5.  Pour the contents into a wider bowl/deep bottomed  wide plate.

Contents poured into a wider bowl for dipping

6. Prepare the baking tray by brushing some EVOO on the surface.
7. Dip the bread one at a time and place it carefully on the baking tray. Take care not to over soak the bread and cause breaking.
8.  Do this for each of the bread slices. Do not crowd the baking tray. Make it in batches if required.
9. Heat the oven on high for 5 minutes and then lower the flame to medium.
10. Place the tray on the lower level. It takes about 4-5 minutes for the first batch on each side and about 2-3 minutes for the 2nd batch in each side.
11. Serve as it is or with an extra dash of powdered cinnamon or sugar-free powdered sugar or toasted walnuts or almonds or extra fruits like chopped strawberries or blue berries. You can also add grated cheese on top. Kids would love it with grated cheese. (For the melted effect, you could add the cheese 1/2 a minute before taking it out of the oven)

Ready to Eat!

This was what was for breakfast folks! Enjoy your healthy and savoury breakfast! Bon Appetit...