#6: Spinach Egg Salad

Dear Tiffany,


About 2 years ago I went through a spinach phase.  I lived right across the street from a great local grocery store, and in my attempts to have some variety in my trying-to-be-healthy-on-a-budget, I experimented with spinach a lot.  Some of these experiments were just plain "ok," edible but nothing to brag about.  But one that I loved was a spinachy-twist on egg salad.  This egg salad is going to give you more vitamins and antioxidants than your basic egg salad, and its got a little zip to it as well.


The Basics:

Once boiling, cook for about 15 minutes.

prep time: about 10-15 minutes not counting waiting for your eggs to boil.  I let mine boil while doing the dishes.
servings: 4
good for leftovers? yes!
cost:less than $5


Ingredients:
6 extra large eggs or 8 large eggs, hard-boiled
2 big handfuls of spinach
about 1/2-1 cup mayonnaise
1 teaspoon mustard
black pepper, cayenne pepper, and salt to taste


The Process:
Hard boil your eggs.  (Once the water comes to a boil, about 15 minutes should do it)  I've heard its good to boil with salt added to the water, which will make the eggs easier to peel later.  When you remove the eggs from the hot water, place them in a bowl of cold water so they will cool to a manageable temperature.


Remove the boiled eggs from the hot water and place them in a bowl of cool water.  While they are cooling, cook your spinach.  You can either bowl it for about 4 minutes in the same water you used for the eggs, or steam it over that water for about 4 minutes.  I boiled mine.  You want it to be pretty wilted and mushy to make it easier to mash into your egg salad.  I was going to take a picture of the consistency it should be, but my camera batteries were dead.  FAIL.  The camera is now charging so I can take a picture of the final product.


When the spinach is done, remove it from the water; you may want to use a strainer.  Dump it into a bowl or tupperware (I used the tupperware since I made mine for tomorrow, yay for less dishes to wash) and let it cool.


Peel your eggs and slice them with an egg slicer in both directions, dumping the eggs into your bowl as they are sliced.  If you don't have an egg slicer, dump them into a separate bowl or onto a plate instead, and use a knife to chop them before adding them to the spinach.

Serve in a sandwich on toasted bread.  Yum!

Use a sharp knife to make several cuts through your spinach and eggs to make sure there are no big chunks.  Then add your mustard and 1/2 cup of mayo, and mix and mash with a fork.  Check the consistency: if its still dry, mix in more mayo until your salad is the consistency you want.  Add several shakes of cayenne pepper, and salt and black pepper to taste.  Mix well, and serve in a sandwich, best on toasted bread.


Notes:
Cayenne Pepper!  I love this stuff!  You will need a LOT of it to give your salad that "zip."  For a Sam-worthy spicy level your salad will be almost orange, but for your less ambitious taste buds, 6 or 7 shakes should be good.


To-Go: If you're packing an egg salad sandwich for lunch, I suggest packing the egg salad in a small container separate from your bread, and putting together your sandwich just before eating, so your sandwich doesn't get soggy.


Cheesy Twist: Substitute low-fat Ricotta cheese for some or all of the mayo if you a) don't like mayo, b) have ricotta in the fridge that you are trying to use, or c) want to try something a little different.  Today I did about half cheese, half mayo and one thing I noticed is that without the mayo flavor you may need to add a little more of the spices, maybe even some chopped dill pickles, to give it the same sharp flavor.  If you like the sweeter cheese flavor, just leave it with the cheese and maybe a little salt and pepper.