Green Eggs and No Ham

This recipe is another one from my gluten-free days. Those days were HARD and I was a very hungry and cranky lady. I ate a lot of eggs and popcorn.

 

But I did discover some great new recipes that will definitely make it into our full-time rotation. This takes egg salad to a whole new level - combined with avocado, spices and perfectly boiled eggs, it's a scrumptious and filling lunch that even Eli loved. It's also mayo-free, which I loved. 

 

 

Avo-Egg Salad
Adapted from Two Peas and their Pod

Ingredients:
2 hard boiled eggs, chopped
2 hard boiled egg whites, chopped
2 small avocados, pitted and peeled
1 tablespoon plain Greek yogurt
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons chopped green onion
1/4 teaspoon Dijon mustard
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Instructions:
In a medium bowl, combine the hard boiled eggs and egg whites, avocado, Greek yogurt, lemon juice, green onion, and mustard. Mash with a fork. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Serve in a sandwich, on crackers, salad or just eat it straight out of the bowl like I did.

Leggo my egg yolk...

I enjoy a good egg salad, but I practically ate my weight in it during my entire pregnancy. I don't know what it was, but there was something so AMAZING about an egg salad sandwich. I'm surprised Eli didn't come out demanding the Egg Salad Cheese Toast sammie from Cafe Hon upon birth.

However, now that I'm back on the WW Wagon (dang stubborn last 5lbs of baby weight!), I needed something a little lower in calories and fat. Enter the Low Yolk Egg Salad from Skinny Taste! So easy to make and super delicious. I doctored it up with some celery and scallions, and it was perfect. I'm going to make egg salad this way from now on because honestly, you don't even miss the extra yolks.

Ingredients:

4 hard boiled eggs, peeled
4 tsp Hellman's light mayonnaise
1/2 tsp dijon mustard
2 tbsp chopped green scallions or chives
salt and fresh pepper to taste

Instructions:

Separate the yolks from the egg whites and discard 3 of the yolks. Chop eggs and combine with mayonnaise, dijon mustard, scallions, salt and pepper.

You Say Potato, I say Frittata...

What, those aren't the real lyrics? I know, I know, but it was hard to make a frittata without singing that song :-)

This was a very light and easy dinner to throw together, after a long and tiring day. I turned to my trusty friend, Mark Bittman, for his glorious "How to Cook Everything" cookbook genius. No, seriously, this book will literally tell you how to cook everything. I love his pancake recipe, too, which I do need to post one day soon.

A frittata is like a thin baked omelet, with lots of room for interpretation. I used whatever we had in the fridge (wasn't much!) and made a cheese/onion/herb frittata with a small side salad. It would have been even better if I had actually been able to add potatoes, but thems the breaks, right?

Ingredients:
1-1.5 TBS butter or olive oil (I would like to note here that since I've been pregnant, I have rediscovered real eggs cooked in real butter, instead of egg whites cooked in Pam spray. Holy deliciousness. I don't know how I can go back)
5-6 eggs
1/2 cup shredded cheese, your choice
salt & pepper to taste

Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. If your skillet is like mine, and has a silicone handle, wrap this in foil to protect it from the oven.

Place the butter or oil in a medium-to-large ovenproof skillet, preferably non-stick, and turn the heat to medium. While it's heating, beat together the eggs, cheese, salt, and pepper. When the butter melts or the oil is hot, pour the eggs into the skillet and turn the heat to medium-low. Cook, undisturbed, for about 10 minutes, or until the bottom of the frittata is firm.

Transfer the skillet to the oven. Bake, checking every 5 minutes or so, just until the top of the frittata is no longer runny, 10 to 20 minutes more.(To speed things up, turn on the broiler, but be careful not to overcook.) Garnish and serve hot or at room temperature.

Curried Egg Salad

While this technically is a recipe for Passover, it's good enough to be made year round. We had quite a few leftover eggs from my baking adventures, so I decided to try an old-fashioned egg salad. However, whilst perusing recipes, I stumbled upon a Curried Egg Salad that made my mouth water. How could I not try it? I'm so glad I did, because it's delicious. Tangy, spicy, sweet, creamy, and crunchy all at once.

It was a great break from heavy brisket and kugel - perfect for a light refreshing lunch outside in the sunshine!

Curried Egg Salad
adapted from Gourmet Magazine, 1991

Ingredients:
1/4 cup bottled mayonnaise (could probably use even less and it would be just as good)
3/4 tsp curry powder
1/8 tsp celery salt
3 to 4 drops of Tabasco, or to taste
3/4 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp Dijon-style mustard
1 TBS fresh lemon juice, or to taste
1.5 TBS bottled mango chutney, chopped
6 hard-boiled large eggs, chopped
1/4 cup finely chopped celery
3 scallions, chopped

Instructions:
In a bowl stir together the mayonnaise, the curry powder, the celery salt, the Tabasco, the cumin, the mustard, the lemon juice, and the chutney. Stir in the eggs, the celery, and the scallions and season the salad with salt and pepper.

Campfire Cooking

Cooking takes on a whole new dimension when it's done over an open fire! Alex and I went camping this weekend with some friends, Jeff & Tara. We went to Cunningham Falls State Park, in Western MD, sort of close to Camp David. While it poured on Friday and made everything wet, the rain held back for our actual camping experience. Tara had never been tent camping before and she was a real trooper. Although, I don't think we'll get her in a tent again!

I scoured around online for campfire recipes, astounded at how ridiculous some of them seemed, but fascinated by others. We decided to do foil cooking, which is basically cooking your dinner in foil packets tucked in among the hot coals. I made Hobo Pies for the men and Lemon Chicken for us ladies, with sweet potatoes on the side. Jeff provided the breakfast recipe, which was pretty much the coolest thing ever - Egg in an Orange. I got such a kick out of it. I actually liked the lemon chicken so much that I'll probably make it again, in our regular oven. Mosquitos and gigantic spiders not invited.

Lemon Chicken

Ingredients

Boneless, skinless chicken breast (one per person)

Lemon

Garlic powder

Italian Seasoning

Foil

Cooking spray

Instructions

Spray a large square of foil generously with cooking spray. Slice the lemon thinly (unless you really like lemon!) and lay 4 slices down to form a square. Top with the chicken. Sprinkle with garlic powder and italian seasoning, and then top with one more lemon slice. Fold up the long sides of the foil, and roll down to create a packet, tucking and rolling up the sides as you go. Make sure it's well sealed!

Place the packets right on the hot coals. Cook for 40 minutes, turning every 10.

Hobo Pie

Ingredients

Ground beef (or turkey...or hamburger patties)

Potatoes, sliced

Carrots, sliced

Onions, sliced

Ketchup

Seasoning

Anything else you want (garlic, other vegetables)

Foil

Cooking Spray

Instructions

Double up on a foil square and spray very well with cooking spray. Lay down the ground beef and season with spices. Top with vegetables and ketchup. Seal up the edges and roll down to make sure it's tight. Place onto hot coals and cook for about 50 minutes.

Egg in an Orange

Ingredients

Orange (one per person)

Eggs (2 per person)

Foil

Cooking Spray

Salt/Pepper

Instructions

Slice an orange in half, cross-wise, and eat the fruit like it was a grapefruit. Spray a foil square with cooking spray and place the hollowed out peel onto it. Carefully crack an egg into the orange and top with salt & pepper. Wrap up the foil and place directly onto the hot coals. Allow to cook for 3-5 minutes, depending on how you like your eggs.

Eggs Sardou

This is a family favorite on Alex's side. His dad grew up in NOLA (New Orleans) and brought a love of regional dishes to the family. Eggs Sardou is a delicious combination of poached eggs, creamed spinach, and artichoke hearts on a toasted English muffin, covered with creamy hollandaise sauce.

This recipe is most definitely not Weight Watchers friendly, so I resisted the urge to eat two and just had a small one. Alex's family knows about my blog and they wanted to be a part of the pictures, so the pictures are my brother-in-law, Pete, and sister-in-law, Mariel, posing with their delicious brunch.

Eggs Sardou

Ingredients:

Poached Eggs (1-2 per person)

Creamed Spinach (recipe to follow, but any kind will work)

Artichoke Hearts (canned or jarred)

Hollandaise Sauce (recipe to follow)

English Muffins (optional)

Paprika (optional)

Poached Eggs:

Fill a saucepan or dutch oven with water and bring to a boil. Once it's boiling, gently crack in eggs, getting close to the surface of the water when you crack them. With a slotted spoon, gently move the white strands back onto the egg so it cooks together. It's done when the whites are no longer transparent and the yolks are still runny. Remove gently with a slotted spoon.

Creamed Spinach:
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup flour
1 cup milk
1 bag or 2 boxes (16 to 24 ounces) frozen spinach
salt and pepper
dash nutmeg

Melt butter in top of double boiler over low direct heat (place a heatproof glass bowl over a pot of gently boiling water). Blend in flour until smooth. Cook until mixture is smooth and bubbly. Gradually add milk and cook, stirring, until thickened. Add spinach. Cover and cook over boiling water, stirring occasionally, 15 minutes. Season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg.

Blender Hollandaise Sauce:

3 egg yolks

1/4 tsp Dijon mustard

dash Tabasco sauce

1 TBS lemon juice

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter

In the container of a blender, combine the egg yolks, mustard, lemon juice and hot pepper sauce. Cover, and blend for about 5 seconds.
Place the butter in a glass measuring cup. Heat butter in the microwave for about 1 minute, or until completely melted and hot. Set the blender on high speed, and pour the butter into the egg yolk mixture in a thin stream. It should thicken almost immediately. Keep the sauce warm until serving by placing the blender container in a pan of hot tap water.

Assembling Eggs Sardou:

Toast english muffins, and top with creamed spinach, artichoke hearts and then a poached egg. Drizzle hollandaise over everything and sprinkle with paprika.

It helps to have the creamed spinach made before-hand. We used Thanksgiving leftovers so it was easy to throw everything together. It's an impressive brunch dish! Just be sure to have some hot sauce on the table for those true Nawlins folks.

Eggs Shakshuka (shack-shoo-kah)

Out of all the places in the world that I've been fortunate enough to visit, Israel is and always will be my favorite. It's really a second home for me, as I've been there so many times and feel immediately comfortable when I'm there. After I graduated high school, I lived there for a year and really fell in love with the country, culture, people and most especially...the FOOD! I gained about 20 lbs when I lived there because of all the delicious delicacies (okay, it was probably from the constant supply of Marzipan Rugalach, but whatever! Ask any American who has lived in Jerusalem and they will agree...totally worth it! See above picture for proof...I'm the chubby blonde in the overalls)

One popular dish in Israel is Eggs Shakshuka. It's really easy to make, but oh so good. My mother in law fell in love with this dish too, when she was there, and she made it one morning for a Sunday brunch. I couldn't believe it! I was thrilled.

The base can be as simple as using a regular jar of spaghetti sauce or if you're up for it, making your own. We love adding Za'atar , which is a great Middle Eastern spice, but if you don't have it, you can use oregano, hot pepper, paprika, basil...whatever you want! It's a really versatile recipe, so you can personalize it to your tastes.

Ingredients:

1 jar spaghetti sauce (basically enough to fill up a deep saute pan)

Spices (I recommend Za'atar!)

1-2 eggs per person (depending on how hungry everyone is)

Pita bread, or other type of crusty bread

Optional - garlic, minced well into the sauce

Instructions:
Heat up sauce and spices in a deep saute pan until bubbling. Carefully crack the eggs on top of the bubbling sauce. DO NOT STIR. Some people like to break up the yolks, but again, up to you. The heat from the sauce will cook the eggs. Cover and cook for about 3-4 minutes, until the eggs are set. Bring the pan directly to the table and serve each person an egg with sauce. Use the bread to sop up the sauce. Bon Appetite! Or, as we say in Hebrew - B'tay Avohn!

Okay, so I'm still working on pretty food pictures...but it's delicious so that makes it okay :-)