We empty-nesters no longer color Easter eggs, but I still enjoy having hard-boiled eggs on hand at Easter time. Eggs symbolize spring and the cycle of life: birth, death, and re-birth. In culinary terms, the chicken lays the eggs (birth), we cook the eggs (death), and we use the leftover eggs in creative new recipes (re-birth). So here we go: delicious leftover eggs in four easy recipes, including hors d’oeuvres, egg salads and even a delicious stuffing.
Chilean chicken &egg salad
So which DID come first; the chicken or the egg? Answer: They are both leftovers, so it doesn’t really matter. This main dish salad comes together in just a few minutes; makes 4 servings.
2 cups diced cooked chicken
1 teaspoon onion juice
6 mint leaves, chopped
1 head Boston lettuce, shredded
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley leaves
1/4 cup French dressing
2 or 3 hard boiled eggs, sliced
Put meat, onion juice, mint, lettuce and parsley in a salad bowl. Add dressing; toss until ingredients are thoroughly combined. Place on serving dish; top with sliced eggs and serve.
Stuffed eggs creole
Add a Cajun twist to boring devilled eggs. Make these a few hours in advance and store, covered, in refrigerator until serving time. Recipe from “Hors d”Oeuvres” by Norman Kolpas; makes 32 stuffed egg halves. Just reduce all ingredients by half if you wish to use only 8 eggs.
16 hard-boiled eggs, halved lengthwise
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon cayenne (red) pepper
5 drops Tabasco sauce
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh chives
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley
2 tablespoons finely chopped red bell pepper
Slivered pimientos, for garnish
Put egg yolks in a food processor with the metal blade; add mayonnaise, lemon juice, cayenne, Tabasco and salt. Process until smoothly blended. Add chives, parsley and bell pepper; pulse just until mixed. Spoon mixture into a piping bag fitted with a star tip, and pipe yolk mixture back into egg white halves. Garnish with pimiento slivers and arrange on a serving tray.
Georgian egg salad
This Russian version of egg salad is delicious on whole grain crackers. For those on a low carb diet, a serving has less than 2 grams carbs. Recipe from “The Georgian Feast” by Darra Goldstein; makes 4 servings.
4 hard-boiled eggs
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
1/4 cup ground walnuts
2 tablespoons minced fresh dill
2 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro
2 tablespoons minced scallions, white part only
1/8 teaspoon salt
In a small bowl, mash eggs with butter. Stir in remaining ingredients; mix well. Chill until ready to serve.
Egg stuffing for roast chicken
Amazingly good alternative to bread-based, carb-laden stuffing, this recipe offers something new to those on low-carb or wheat-free diets. You can make it several hours in advance. Recipe from “The Low-Carb Cookbook” by Fran McCullough; makes enough stuffing for a 6-pound roasting chicken (cut recipe in half for a 3-pounder).
6 large hard-boiled eggs, chopped
1 cup finely chopped fennel or celery, plus a few minced leaves
3 scallions, including the firm green, in thin rounds
1/4 cup mayonnaise
Salt and lots of pepper to taste
Optional: the chicken liver, cut in small pieces
In a mixing bowl, combine eggs, fennel, minced leaves and scallions. Stir in mayonnaise and combine. Add salt and pepper and the optional liver; stir again to blend. Refrigerate stuffing until ready to use.
To stuff chicken:
Stuff the chicken right before roasting. Rinse out cavity and dry well. Spoon in the stuffing into chicken cavity; secure opening to the cavity with a skewer. Preheat oven to 450 F. Put the stuffed chicken in a heavy roasting pan, breast up, and rub all over with a tablespoon of olive oil. Slide the pan into oven on middle rack. After 10 minutes, run a spatula under chicken and move it around so it doesn’t stick. Roast until leg wiggles easily and juices run clear when you poke a cooking fork into breast where it meets the leg. For 6-pound chicken: about 70 minutes; for 3-pound chicken, about 35-40 minutes. Let cooked chicken rest 10 minutes on a serving platter before slicing.