What’s Up Wednesday: Eating Easter Eggs

It’s always the after-Easter dilemma: what to do with those eggs!? Gail writing the intro here, the one who has decades of experience with this problem. Because I, too, have always loved to color Easter Eggs, I used to boil up plenty of eggs, sometimes even THREE DOZEN eggs for Sam, Becca, Robert and me to decorate. You know how disappointing it can be when you have more ideas but have run out of eggs? Some years we ran out of ideas first! Hubby typically sat out for this activity ;)

So when you crack into those decorated eggs like ours — Sam’s in Monday’s post and in this post, and mine from yesterday — try these ideas!

The first rule of Easter Egg consumption at our house was always: everyone had to eat a boiled egg as part of their Easter breakfast. Usually there was at least one personalised egg for everyone and that’s what was usually chosen. Good times!

So that took care of 5 eggs. Sometimes 7 or 8… only 30-ish left to go! Here are ideas that both Sam and I have used or found to share with you this year. 

#1. I have a go-to recipe for Spinach Salad. The dressing (below) is what makes it so yummy, but it is also go-to the week after Easter because it uses boiled eggs! For four to six people: toss 8-12 cups fresh spinach with dressing just to lightly coat the leaves just before serving. Arrange plates with dressed spinach, sliced mushrooms, thinly sliced red onions, chopped cooked bacon, chopped or sliced boiled eggs (1/2 to 1 egg each) and croutons if you wish. Drizzle with a tiny bit more dressing if desired. I seriously never use the bacon drippings anymore but oh my gosh Mmmmm if you do! I typically grab pre-cooked chopped bacon from a bag and heat it up to freshen it. I use red wine vinegar but cider, white wine, or white balsamic also work. Enjoy! –Gail

Spinach Salad DRESSING: 2 Tbsp mayonnaise, 2 Tbsp vinegar  1 – 2 Tbsp sugar, 2 – 3 Tbsp. bacon drippings or oil. Whisk well. Keeps in frig for a week or so.

#2. With my first round of hard boiled eggs I whipped up a simple avocado egg salad for lunch yesterday!  This recipe is enough for two people: 1 large avocado cubed, 4-5 hard boiled eggs chopped, 1 tbsp mayo, 1tsp curry powder, and salt&pepper to taste!  Combine and eat!  Served mine on a hoagie roll with salad greens stuffed inside too! Yum! –Sam

#3. Egg salad stir-ins: slivered almonds, chopped green olives, bacon (of course!) celery, any kind of onion, herbs, jalapenos, any kind of pickle… I have tried all of these except the jalapeno ;)  — get creative! –Gail

#4. Here’s another good way to use up some hard-cooked eggs from right here at 2create! Add extra eggs if you are desperate to use them up LOL Partly Potato Salad is an adaptation of my standard potato salad which uses eggs — lots of eggs if I am indulging myself! –Gail

#5. Four salads above… so how about a soup!  Spanish Chickpea and Chorizo Soup to be exact!  With grated hard boiled eggs over the top!  This sounds SO good to me!  Nice and hearty for a cool day, but for some reason chorizo always reminds me of summer (maybe all the summers I’ve made chorizo breakfast burritos on our outdoor grill at the cabin…), so a cool summer day would be perfect for this soup in my house! –Sam

#6. And now that we’ve got a recipe with a spanish flair, how about one with some british flair?  Kicked Up Scotch Eggs!  I tried my first scotch egg a few months ago, and it was surprisingly tasty!  It would be fun to try and make them at home, and Aaron would probably enjoy them… I mean, sausage and spicy… perfect!  –Sam

#7. I recall a lot of good ideas from one of my favorite food mags through the years, Bon Appetit. Here are a couple links for you. –Gail

http://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/savory-black-pepper-parmesan-cookies No sugar in these “cookies” but they do use the yolks from boiled eggs!

From the list at this Bon Appetit link come two ideas and I like the sound of both of them! #4 suggests putting whole peeled (boiled) eggs into a vegetable curry. I imagine that once sliced open, the yolk would dissolve into the sauce and the white would absorb flavor yet give a nice mild contrast like a potato chunk. #8 though — a whole new idea for a sandwich to me! Quoting from the link above, referencing another pan bagnat idea: “a pan bagnat: hollow out a country loaf and fill with sliced egg, good olive oil packed tuna, olive tapanade, sliced tomatoes, radicchio, a shake of vinegar and a slick of mayo. Wrap in plastic and press in the fridge overnight, then slice into wedges.” Maybe arugula? Although I do have a half a head of red cabbage leftover ;) Thanks, Bon Appetit magazine!

 #8. Another obvious addition to this list would be deviled eggs.  Something I’ve never made, but always enjoyed when other people have.  I’m finally tempted to make my own with this recipe: Buffalo Chicken Deviled Eggs!  Especially when you add additional blue cheese and Frank’s on top!  Can’t go wrong topping anything with Frank’s in my opinion!  Do you think a whole batch of these with some carrots and celery would qualify as a nutritious lunch?  –Sam

Sam here to finish us out… That’s at least 8 recipes up there, but if you click through some of those links you’ll find extras too!  You should have no problem gobbling up hard boiled eggs after the Easter festivities are over!  Abbi may be too young to enjoy dyeing eggs, so I’ve been enjoying it for the both of us… and Aaron has enjoyed grabbing a couple on his way out the door in the morning too!  I know I’ll be checking back in on this list in the next week to finish using the rest of mine.  Plus… now that I’ve discovered how easy it is to hard boil eggs (WHAT?!  I know… this was actually the first time I’d done it myself… crazy, right?)… I have a feeling it will become a far more regular occurence at our house!

Happy Egg Week!

Sam (and Gail)