Day Twenty-Four: Eggy Goodness

I have one thing to say about brown eggs: huzzah! That is, it makes the act of peeling eggs a little easier, since the shells don't blend in with the whites. Of course, it can't make the act of peeling eggs enjoyable. For every large chunk of shell I manage to prize off, there are two thousand tiny shards. Next time I'm at my parents' house, I'd like to try peeling green eggs. Not because it would be any easier, but it might be amusing. (My parents have a little flock of chickens, some of which are araucanas, whose eggs are sort of a pale mint green.)So--why was I peeling eggs this morning? For egg salad, of course! I'm really glad I've already forced myself to eat a few hard boiled eggs on their own. If I hadn't, the act of making the salad would have been a little bit nauseating, and the act of peeling eggs would have been a little more frustrating.

I found a lot of recipes online for egg salad, though, surprisingly enough, I didn't find one in my red-and-white-checked Better Homes and Gardens book, which for basic foods is usually my go-to. Not under eggs and cheese, not under salads. Online I found recipes including smoked salmon, peas, various veggies and spices, but I ended up choosing a simplistic, less mayonnaisey recipe (who needs a lot of mayonnaise when eggs already have a bit of a creamy texture?) that involved dijon mustard (I'm starting to think I'll eat anything if it comes with dijon), onion and paprika.

This is where our pita addiction pays off. You see, in the name of health and our waistlines, the hubby and I like to limit our bread intake, so mostly we have whole wheat pita in our fridge, though we've also taken to extra sour rye and those little thin bun things. But with egg salad (or tuna salad or chicken salad) a pita pocket is ideal, since such sandwich fillings are a little tough to keep between two slices of bread. Who wants to fight with a sandwich?

So I had my egg salad in a toasted pita pocket with some arugula and a little more dijon mustard. It wasn't intimidating looking at all--kind of like scrambled eggs--and the smell was quite enticing. It smelled a little like a deli, but without the meat. And man, was this egg salad good eating. I don't care that it's hard boiled eggs or cold salad--this is going into my regular rotation. The problem of separate whites and yolks is gone, because I mashed them together with my fork. As for cold food having less flavor--I guess you just have to season it correctly. That even proved true for the leftover potato salad I had on the side. A little extra salt=an enjoyable cold food experience.