Egg Salad for the Epicure

Wondering what to do with the dozens of pink, blue-green, and orange hard-cooked eggs sitting in your refrigerator? Think of them not as a leftover dilemma, but as an opportunity to make a time-honored favorite—egg salad. In fact, this opportunity has proven so great that the U.S. egg industry declared Egg Salad Week starting the Monday after Easter.

A bowlful of chopped, hard-cooked eggs moistened with mayo is a purist’s dream come true, but egg salad is more than a handy sandwich spread—it’s a remarkably adaptable mixture that embraces a whole range of easy additions beyond the usual chopped celery.

Imagine egg salad made with roasted red peppers, black olives, and chopped fresh parsley or basil served open-face on crusty bread. Stir in a spoonful of salsa, scallions, and avocado chunks and serve with tortilla chips or crackers. And chunks of your leftover Easter ham, chopped asparagus, and a spoonful of dijon mustard bring egg salad to yet another level.

You don’t really need a recipe—just start with basic egg salad and use your imagination, with a little help from our list of easy additions. Keep in mind that The American Egg Board, in its (ahem) Eggcyclopedia, recommends you use all those eggs within the week.

RECIPE:
Basic Egg Salad:

• 6 hard-cooked eggs, chopped
• 1/3 cup mayonnaise
• Salt and black pepper; to taste

Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl until well blended. Cover and refrigerate. Makes 4 to 6 servings.

Egg Salad additons:

• Crisp, crumbled bacon or chunks of baked hame
• Dash of curry powder
• A spoonful of yellow, dijon,or grainy mustard
• Chopped pimento or roasted red peppers
• Chopped green or black olives
• Chopped celery
• Chopped red or green bell pepper
• Chopped red onion, chives, scallions, fresh parsley, dill, basil, or cilantro
• Chopped leftover steamed asparagus
• Sweet or dill pickles, or capers
• Bits of shredded smoked fish such as salmon, catfish, or trout
• Cubed cooked potatoes
• Dash of hot pepper sauce, Worcestershire sauce, or lemon juice
• Spoonful of salso, chopped jalapeno pepper

Easter egg handling tips:
• Discard any cracked eggs and all that were unrefrigerated for more than two hours. Simply consider the Easter egg hunt and your colorful egg centerpiece as creative, inexpensive fun.
• Refrigerate all eggs after display within two hours.

Mindy Merrell is a Nashville-based food writer and cookbook author.

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