A TRIED-AND-TRUE way to put leftover eggs to good use is by whipping up an egg salad. It’s no coincidence that National Egg Salad Week starts the Monday after Easter.
Egg salad, of course, is that classic mixture of hard-boiled eggs and mayonnaise.
You start by peeling eggs. A quick tip to make removing the shells from hard-boiled eggs a snap is to plunge the just-boiled eggs into ice water. Once they’ve cooled you can just crack the shell and pull, and it should slip right off.
There are dozens of ways to make egg salad. I recently tried a white egg salad recipe that uses sour cream instead of mayonnaise to mix egg whites with other ingredients such as peas, and it’s served in lettuce cups.
You can also use Greek-style yogurt instead of sour cream and get a similar, creamy result.
Two additional combinations I put together include a creamy bacon and egg salad with a little tangy relish. Also, I added curry powder to egg salad and mixed in crunchy carrots, shallots or capers for a more sophisticated flavor.
White Egg Salad
6 eggs, hard-boiled and peeled
1/2 cup celery, diced
1/4 cup green onion, chopped
1/4 cup sour cream (or Greek-style yogurt)
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
Pinch of white pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1/4 cup fresh watercress leaves, for garnish if desired
Fresh ground black pepper for garnish, if desired
Fresh Boston lettuce leaves for serving, if desired
Cut the shelled boiled eggs in half, remove the yolks and discard them.
Chop up the egg whites and add them to a mixing bowl.
Add the celery and green onion and stir.
Put the sour cream, lemon juice, apple cider vinegar, white pepper and garlic salt in a separate bowl and whisk together.
Add the sour cream mixture to the chopped egg mixture and stir together. Adjust seasonings to suit your taste.
Serve in lettuce cups and garnish with watercress and fresh black pepper, if desired.
Bacon and Egg Salad
6 eggs, hard-boiled, peeled and chopped
4 slices of bacon, cooked and chopped
1 shallot, chopped
1/3 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons relish
1/2 tablespoon red wine vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste
Bread for serving
Put the chopped egg, bacon and shallot in a mixing bowl and stir to combine.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, mustard, relish and red wine vinegar.
Add the mayonnaise mixture to the egg mixture and combine. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Curry Egg Salad
6 eggs, hard-boiled, peeled and chopped
1/2 cup carrot, finely chopped or grated
1/4 cup frozen green peas, thawed
1/4 cup green onions, chopped
1/3 cup mayonnaise
1/2 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1/2 tablespoon curry powder
1/4 teaspoon Kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
Put eggs, carrots and peas in a mixing bowl and stir to combine.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the remaining ingredients.
Add the mayonnaise mixture to the egg mixture and stir together; adjust seasonings to suit your taste.
