Egg Salad

I like egg salad, it is one of my favorite breakfast foods, and even part of a fast lunch.  When I came to these shores in 1962, I soon learned to enjoy it with mayonnaise as opposed to my mother’s spartan combination of chopped hard boiled eggs with small amounts of salt, pepper, and a bit of olive oil. Egg salad comes in many variations, but, David Lebovitz‘ recipe is superb:

Enough for 2 or 3 sandwiches

My uncle once told me a funny story: about forty years ago, he once set out to make a recipe that called for capers and he thought that he would use fresh, rather than something from a jar. He looked and looked and looked and couldn’t find fresh. He could only find the pickled ones, which he later realized were how capers were prepared and sold. And now, every time I open a jar I think of his story. I like a little bit of chopped capers in my egg salad, or something a bit vinegary. You could also use some chopped cornichons or pickles – and their juice – in place of the capers.

You can use any kind of pepper powder that you want. Note that if you use a red one, it will turn the color of the egg salad a somewhat fiery shade of red.

6 hard-boiled eggs
1/3 (70g) cup mayonnaise
1 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon (drained) capers, chopped
1 1/2 teaspoons caper juice
3/4 teaspoon pepper, such as Isot (Urfa), black pepper or red pepper powder
sea salt
optional: 3 tablespoons sunflower seeds

1. Peel the eggs and chop them into pieces.
2. Mix the eggs in a bowl with the mayonnaise, mustard, capers, caper juice, pepper, and a good sprinkle salt. If desired, add the sunflower seeds.

To serve, spread on toasted grainy bread, then garnish with additional salt, pepper, and some chopped chives.

Enjoy, gentle reader, enjoy!

CS

Chopped Vegetable Salad with Lemon-Garlic Dressing

David Lebovitz, is one of my favorite food bloggers. the San Francisco Chronicle named him one of the Five Top Pastry Chefs in the Bay Area, he’s been featured in every major food publication and most of the big newspapers. In 1999 he left the US and moved to Paris to write books (he’s written six, so far) and enjoy great food. I quoted his blog before about something I grew up with in Uruguay, something which if one of my South American cousins wouldn’t have sent me from time to time (until I found the recipe!) would have turned me into a desperate junkie in search of a fix. Yes, gentle reader, I confess I am a hopeless Dulce de Leche addict.

Today as I scoured David Lebovitz‘ blog, which I do periodically, I found a great salad recipe (which I made some slight changes to so as to make it kosher):

Photo by: David Lebovitz

Two servings

I guess I’m more French than I thought because I’m not a fan of very hard vegetables raw, like broccoli, cauliflower, or green beans. So if I use them, I blanch or steam the vegetables lightly, to make them a bit more palatable.

For the dressing:

2 cloves garlic, peeled and grated or minced
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon kosher or sea salt
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/4 cup (60ml) olive or grape seed oil, or another favorite oil

For the salad:

6 cups (700g) mixed chopped vegetables and other additions, such as:

-Crumbled Morningstar Farms Veggie Bacon Strips or Bacos, (both products are kosher certified by the OU)
-Diced avocado
-Batons of baked tofu
-Crumbled feta, goat, or blue cheese
-Shredded romaine, radicchio, or gem lettuce
-Sliced or quartered radishes
-Grated or julienne-cut carrots
-Shredded red cabbage
-Minced parsley or chives
_Lightly steamed or blanched broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, or asparagus
-Diced hard-cooked eggs
-Pumpkin seeds
-Quartered cherry tomatoes

1. In a large salad bowl, mix together the garlic, lemon juice, salt, and mustard with a fork

2. Add the olive oil and stir with the fork until the dressing is well mixed. (I don’t emulsify the dressing as I feel it gets too heavy and thick.)

3. Add the salad ingredients and toss well.

I fully realize that after the Nine Days a nice meat recipe, rather than a dairy one, would have been far more welcome, but this one is simple to make, healthy and delicious!

Enjoy, gentle reader, enjoy!