Egg Salad with Zing

As we approach the summer months, tentative thoughts of picnics, BBQs and the like twinkle in our minds. Conjured up images of burgers and buns alongside heaps of summer salads; macaroni, potato and the ubiquitous egg salad. Sure this Memorial Day celebration and seasonal BBQ’s may look different this year, but one thing is certain, we still need to eat. And we definitely need to celebrate and rejoice in life, in being healthy, and any and all good fortunes.

No matter how you decide to celebrate this upcoming Memorial Day, adding a little twist to an old salad standby might be a welcomed change. Although mayo based salads are often the usual accompaniment to BBQs, they rarely grace my table. I seldom, or should say, almost never eat them. Egg salad, most of all. Two main reasons, really. For a long time, I’ve had a food sensitivity to eggs, so I guess that’s a pretty good, and I would venture to say, big rationale. Then, of course, there is the mayo portion, which naturally is made with eggs. The other salads can easily be reinvented/reworked using a blend sour cream and yogurt. But when it comes to egg salad, there’s no getting around the egg portion, and the globs of mayo. Given that eggs make a double appearance in this traditional dish, I’ve steered clear for quite some time. But recently, I starting introducing these shelled wonders back into my diet, and things seem to be ok. With the weather finally showing signs of Spring, Summer and warmth, I figured now was the right time to give a twist to a traditional lunch salad.

I like texture, and I like zing… And I especially like them in my food. When thinking about the typical egg salad neither of those come to mind. In true ‘what do I have’ fashion, I pulled out of the fridge the following line up to answer the call to texture and zing.

Eggs | Mayo | Mustard | Pickles | Capers | Olives | Celery | Lemon

The line up; pickles, capers, mayo, eggs, celery, olives, mustard and lemon.

Ingredients

Yields 1.5 c | approx. 3-4 servings

3 hard boiled eggs
¼ t lemon zest
2 T lemon juice*
¼ cup fine dice celery
1 t capers, chopped
2.5 T chopped dill pickles
2.5 T chopped green olive (I used Spanish Manzanilla olives)
¼ c mayo
1 t mustard (For even more zing, use grain mustard)
(I would have added about 2 T diced red onion if I had it.)
Pepper to taste

Instructions

1. To get a perfect hard boiled egg, place the eggs in a pot and fill with cold water just enough to cover. Bring to a boil, then immediately remove from the heat. Cover and let stand for 14 minutes. Then submerge in ice bath to both stop the cooking and to make it easier to peel.

2. Prep all your ingredients in the famous mise en place way, getting everything ready.

I love using these perfectly sized handmade ceramic bowls by Miller Pottery.

As you can see, some bowls are deeper, while others smaller. Choose bowls of varying small sizes to suit your ingredients.

3. Combine the mayo, mustard and lemon juice/zest together and blend. Add pepper to taste.

As I mentioned, I like a less thick mayo style, so I used 2 tablespoons of lemon juice, making a thinner, lighter dressing. Adjust to your taste.

Photo credit: JuanCarlos Casas/lookasithappens

Look at how gorgeous those yellow yolks look. Perfectly done.

Smash to your hearts content. i like mine on the chunkier side. Photo credit: JuanCarlos Casas/lookasithappens

4. Once the egg are done, smash with a fork to the texture you desire and add all the remaining ingredients saving the mayo mixture for last.

In go all the tangy items, olives, capers, pickles. NOTE: all these have a decent amount of saltiness to them, which is why no additional salt was needed. Photo credit: JuanCarlos Casas/lookasithappens

Crunchy celery in. Photo credit: JuanCarlos Casas/lookasithappens

Creamy, zesty dressing drizzled. Photo credit: JuanCarlos Casas/lookasithappens

*The two tablespoons of lemon juice makes a loose mixture.  I don’t like mine too dry nor too much mayo.  If you like yours less wet and with a thicker mayo texture then cut down the lemon juice.

Serve this with your favorite crackers. You know by know that my gluten free go to is Mary’s Gone Crackers. Naturally, a bun, or whole wheat toast would be great options. However, neither of which can be found in my house.

For more crunch, devour this with Mary’s Gone Crackers. Or serve it up on celery stalks.

For an even healthier choice that will still give you a crisp crunch, fill lettuce leaves with the egg salad. Less carbs more freshness.

Egg Salad with Zing.

A nice lighter lunch served alongside some ice cold, crispy grapes. Fruit is a great accompaniment to a creamy or mayo based salad. I’m a fan. Check out some other salads using grapes. Chicken Salad with Fruit & Nuts or Graped Up Bibb Salad.

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Salmon Burgers - Sans Gluten & Eggs... WHAT?

Some of you know that I have an allergic reaction to wheat, yeast and eggs (plus a few other foods). So I try to eliminate those as much as possible.  Which means even foods containing just a smidge of bread or eggs to hold them together are quite literally my unraveling.  And thus, blacklisted from my repertoire.  Seriously, how much deprivation can one woman withstand?   I love me a fish burger, but alas most use bread or bread crumbs, and almost all use eggs. What's a gal to do?  Being stubborn and wanting what I want is when the thinking cap needs to be fully stretched and used to its fullest. Unscramble the mystery and find another way to hold the darn thing together.

I remember seeing a recipe a while back that whizzed up part of the protein to make a paste.  Paste... that definitely holds shit together.  So, with the sticky part done I needed to fill up the rest.  Here is the fun part.  You can, seriously, add a long list of accompaniments like; kale, spinach, corn, mushrooms and so on.  Alas, I only had some basics on hand:  onions, celery, peppers, scallions. So, that's what I used, and they worked out just fine. (Next time I will share experimenting with other fillings. Heck, don't wait for me. Be daring and test on your own.)

The setup of what was to become a really tasty salmon burger.

Ingredients   

Burgers - Makes 6
1 lb Salmon, skin removed
1 c celery, chopped
1/3 c yellow pepper, small dice
1/3 c orange pepper, small dice
1/4 c red onion, small dice
1/4 c yellow onion, small dice
1/4 c + 2 T scallions, sliced
2 T oil
2 T capers
1 T parsley, chopped
1 t mustard
1/2 t whole grain mustard
1 t salt
1/4 t black pepper
corn meal, potato flour optional

Relish
2/3 c yogurt
2 T Kosher dill pickles, chopped
1 T parsley, chopped
1 t capers
1. 5 T lemon juice
1 T lemon zest
1/3 c sauté mixture
salt to taste

Instructions

Mise en place all the vegetables as directed.  Then in a cast iron pan or skillet, sauté onions, celery, peppers, 1/4 c scallions in oil, season with salt and pepper.

Mise en place is French for "everything in place", meaning prep all your ingredients so they are ready to go.

They sure look pretty like this but go ahead and mix them together for even sautéing.

 Let them cook slowly over low heat until softened. When done, set aside and let cool.

Meanwhile, cut the salmon into 3 equal parts.  One part cut into 3/4" cubes. One part cut into 1/4" cubes. One part pulse in a mini food processor to create a paste. 

Salmon paste that will be the glue to hold the other two together.

Next chop the parsley and rest of scallions.  In a bowl, add all three portions of salmon. Then begin adding all filling ingredients:  1/2 c of the cooled sauté mixture, capers, the mustards, 2 T scallions and parsley.  Mix together until well combined, then form patties, and refrigerate for 15 minutes to 1/2 hour.  

Salmon prepped in 3 sizes: Big cubes, smaller cubes and a paste.

Start building the burger flavors by adding the vegetable sauté.

In go the capers.

Then the mustard, and so on.

Then form your patties. This makes 6 medium burgers.

While the burgers are chilling out, move onto the relish. All it takes is a bowl to combine all the ingredients together, stirring until well incorporated.  Then refrigerate until ready to serve.

The lineup for the relish.

Homemade relish is so fresh and delicious. It can be used on baked potatoes, or over rice even.

After the patties have had their chilled rest and are firm, they are ready for frying. You have choices at this point. You can either fry as is without any coating, or dust them with either potato flour* or corn grits**. Using my 6 burgers I experimented making 2 of each kind to see which we liked best. Jill and JC liked them plain with no coating. I also liked the purity of the plain one, but I liked the corn grits coating due to the outer crunch.  And if you search your memory banks, or this blog you will remember that I love crunch.  Test which one you like best.  

NOTE:
*If you use the potato flour coating, cook these at a lower heat since the the finer powder texture cooks faster and will burn if heat is too high.
** Corn grits are a larger grain, which gives it the crunch. But if you don't want as much crunch factor, then you can use a stone ground corn meal which has a finer texture.

Corn grits. See those grains of ground corn? That's what gives it Crunch!

Potato flour is much finer, almost like talcum powder.

About to make crunchy goodness.

I like using a cast iron skillet because the pan retains the heat and gives a nice outer crust. Fry on both sides until you see the salmon turn pink, about 2-3 minutes each side, depending on thickness. 

Front left has potato flour coating. Back center has the corn grits, while front right is sans any coating.

The final lineup from left to right: Potato coated, no coating, corn grits coated. You can see how much darker the potato coating got.

Serve immediately with slices of tomato, arugula or boston lettuce, and some cornichons. Any lettuce works fine, but I really enjoyed how the spicy flavor of arugula plays off the salmon,  Don't forget the homemade relish. It's tangy, sweet and delicious. JC and Jill both told me that they don't usually like relish, but plopped spoonfuls of my homemade version on their burgers.  The next night we had fish. They broke out the relish again!

Hey, since this is such a healthy version of a burger, no bread filling or bun, go ahead and splurge by serving up some fries or a baked potato.  You can even use the relish on that, too. With Memorial Day steaming down the tracks, these could be a great addition to your outdoor party.
(Note: I would not cook these directly on the grill, as they need a flat surface in order to form a crust to help hold them together.) 

Just because I need to eliminate some foods doesn't mean I can't enjoy things I love.
And just because these are sans bread and egg definitely doesn't mean they are sans flavor!

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Apple Crisp Salad

I am one of those writers who loves journals.  I have a million but that doesn't stop me from buying more when I see one.  I am drawn to them like bees to honey.  I love the texture. I love holding them in my hand. I love all the styles, designs and colors. I see one, and like some fiend that has been implanted with a chip that orders me to buy every time I see one, I do so willing, happily, adding to my ever growing collection.  And because I have so many journals I write in different ones at different times.  Sometimes it depends on my mood; does the cover and feel of the journal match how I'm feeling?  Sometimes it's the contents; is what I'm about to write similar to what has already been written in that journal.  Other times it's simply about the weight of the journal.  If I am traveling, I choose the lightest, thinnest one.  While other times I could be in one location but still slightly traveling slowly side to side on the hammock. For those times, I choose a weightier journal than the one intended for trains, planes and automobiles.

This is just the tip of the iceberg. But aren't they all so pretty. Wouldn't you buy them, too?!

Scribbles with no amounts. The green notes are from me recreating it for this blog, so I could give you measurements.

The happy result of having started but not finishing
a journal is that I happen upon poems, writings, rantings, recipes and ideas from moments past.  There is a certain excitement upon discovering these nuggets. I can relive times in my life and feel a sense of journey and accomplishment. They also seem new and fresh to me, usually bringing me joy.  This occurs particularly when I'm thumbing through and unearth a recipe I want to try again. I can't tell you how happy I am that a few years back I started writing recipes down.  I've always written my thoughts and feelings
in journals but not recipes. So being able to recreate dishes that I made once and almost forgot is a real treat.  Like this Apple Crisp Salad.  I remember it now, and would have totally slipped my mind and fallen into the vast past of recipes lost had I not jotted it down.

It is exactly how I named it.  A salad featuring apples where the crispness comes from the way they are cut.  I believe I have mentioned this before but the cut of food, especially fruits and vegetables can make all the difference in world.  It can either enhance or overwhelm a dish.   In this recipe, the apples are cut like matchsticks, allowing them to mingle themselves throughout the entire salad providing a crisp crunch with every bite.

ingredients

(4 Lunch or 6 dinner servings)
4+ c apples, sliced into matchsticks               10 c Boston, Romaine lettuce        
1 c parsley leaves
1 c cilantro leaves
1/3 c scallions, sliced
1/4 c heaping red onion, thinly sliced

Dressing
2 T lemon juice
2 T lime juice
1 t dijon mustard
1/4 t fresh ginger, grated
1/2 t garlic, crushed
salt, pepper to taste
1/3 c olive Oil

Instructions

Prepare all the ingredients as directed above, leaving the apples to the very last so they don't turn brown.  You can also squeeze lemon juice on them to keep them from turning.  For both the parsley and cilantro, pick the individual leaves off the stems and leave whole.  This adds so much flavor.

Arrange the lettuces on a platter or big bowl. Then mix in all the other ingredients.

Using my "beautiful bowls of love"

Cut 1/8" slices of the apple.

Then cut them lengthwise to create matchstick pieces.

Using a mandolin, I also like to thinly slice some of the apple for garnish.  

Add it to the top of the salad in various places.

Make the dressing and then pour over the salad right before serving.  Toss until coated.  

This dressing has a nice kick provided by the dijon grain mustard, the fresh grated ginger and garlic.

This is a perfect salad for this time of year as apple picking is in season.  Go pick a few then make this salad to accompany my Apple Butter/Spicy Sausage Sandwich.  Since the weather is still warm the salad is a great sub in for the roasted tomato soup that I originally made with that sandwich.  Either way...

An apple a day...

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