Crispy Quinoa-Crusted French Toast

During the week, I rarely have time to make breakfast that isn't in the form of oatmeal, a smoothie, or an English muffin.  So when the weekend rolls around, I try to be a little more creative.  This past Sunday, I did some kitchen inventory and discovered an abundance of crispy quinoa cereal and an unopened bottle of St. Dalfour blueberry sauce.  Iron Chef-esque thinking led me to one thing:  quinoa-crusted French toast with blueberry sauce! 

I'm not sure how readily available quinoa crispies are in supermarkets.  I found them in the bulk bin section at Rainbow Grocery in San Francisco.  They definitely bring the cool factor to this recipe, but another type of cereal would work just as well.  This is inspired by cornflake-crusted French toast, after all.  :) 

Makes 2 servings

1 cup coconut milk (full fat)
2-3 tablespoons maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1.5 cups of crispy quinoa cereal
4 slices of bread
2 tablespoons coconut oil
Store-bought blueberry sauce or more maple syrup
Fresh blueberries or other fruit

1. Whisk the coconut milk, 2 tablespoons of maple syrup, vanilla extract, and cinnamon together in a shallow dish. Add another tablespoon of maple syrup if you'd like more sweetness. :)
2. Place the quinoa crispies in another shallow dish.
3. Soak a slice of bread in the coconut milk mixture, turning once. (Try not to let the bread get too soggy)
4. Let the excess coconut milk mixture drip off, then dredge the bread in the quinoa crispies.
5. Melt 1 tablespoon of coconut oil in a large pan over medium heat.
6. Cook the French toast (2 slices at a time) until golden brown, about 1 minute per side. (Some of the quinoa crispies will fall off, but that's okay)
7. Add another tablespoon of coconut oil to the pan and repeat the process with the remaining 2 slices of bread.
8. Top with blueberry sauce and fresh blueberries.

French toast can be soggy at times, so I really enjoyed the crunchy texture from the crispy quinoa.  With maple syrup and cinnamon in the mix, there wasn't really a noticeable coconut flavor.  I used the coconut milk mainly as a binder.  If you'd like more coconut flavor, try adding some coconut flakes to the quinoa coating.  Yum!

And if you'd like to make the blueberry sauce from scratch, there's an easy recipe here.  Or you can just scratch the blueberry sauce all together and use good old fashioned pure maple syrup.  Just try not to over-pour because the best part of this dish is the crunch! 

Enjoy! :)