I screw around with food a lot.
I add pumpkin to mac and cheese, honey to meatballs and broccoli to traditional Italian meat dishes, and I don’t feel guilty about it for a second. Flavors, in my book, are meant to be played with.
But there is one food I don’t like generally like messed with; a food so integral to my childhood and hence, adult comfort food regime, that I like to keep it exactly the way it has always been. That food is egg salad, and I like mine the way my mother made it, with eggs, mayonnaise, salt pepper and dried dill. Anything else seems superfluous and therefore less-comforting.
But today I am feeling adventurous…and also way too carbed-out from last week’s indulgences to eat anything starchy. So, I’m going just a little bit defiant on traditional egg salad. Not only am I messing around with the flavors, adding chives and fresh lemon juice and omitting the dill, I’m eating it in peppery endive cups…to great results.
I never rebelled much as a teenager, but check me and my renegade egg salad out now.
Ingredients
- 6 eggs $1.50
- 3 tbsp mayonnaise Pantry
- 2 tbsp finely chopped red onion (about 1/6 medium onion) $0.50 for a whole onion
- 1/2 bunch chives, chopped finely (reserve some for garnish) $1 for a bunch
- 1 small wedge of lemon $0.50 for a whole lemon
- salt and freshly-ground pepper to taste Pantry
- 1 whole head of endive $0.25
Recipe Serves 2-3
Directions
- Place the eggs in a pot and cover with cold water.
- Turn heat to high, cover pot and bring water to a boil.
- Turn off the heat, cover, and let sit, undisturbed. for 8 minutes.
- Bring the whole pot to the sink and gently pour out the hot water.
- Turn the tap to cold water and let run over the hot eggs for 1 minute.
- Turn off the tap and let eggs sit in the cold water for 2 minutes, until cool to the touch.
- Crack and peel each egg, and then place in a mixing bowl.
- Add the mayonnaise and then mash gently with a fork (I like to leave the the egg mixture somewhat chunky).
- Stir in the onion and chives and squeeze the lemon over the mixture.
- Stir gently and add salt and pepper to taste.
- Place in the refrigerator while you prepare the endive.
- To prepare the endive, cut off the end so the leaves come apart easily. Divide them.
- To assemble, use a small spoon to scoop about 1 or 1 1/2 tbsp of egg salad into the cup of each endive leaf.
- Arrange the salad-filled endive leaves (I like to do this in the shape of a star, as pictured) If you have extra egg salad left over, serve it with the filled leaves.
- Garnish the whole thing with the extra chives and serve.
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What They're Saying
mapquest directions, on May 10, 07:16 PM, wrote:
The onion egg salad you made is delicious and delicious. I really like this dish. Very awesome taste.