#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.

#1: Manna Soup

Exodus 16:13-16

"¹³ That evening quail came and covered the camp, and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp. ¹⁴ When the dew was gone, thin flakes like frost on the ground appeared on the desert floor. ¹⁵ When the Israelites saw it, they said to each other, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was.   Moses said to them, “It is the bread the LORD has given you to eat. ¹⁶ This is what the LORD has commanded: ‘Everyone is to gather as much as they need. Take an omer for each person you have in your tent.’"

Dear Tiff,

I decided to call this soup "Manna" Soup for two reasons.  First, "manna" means "what is it?" which I thought was appropriate because this soup is pretty random, and you might have to look carefully to identify all the ingredients!  The second reason, though, is that I first made this soup when money was really tight, and in my efforts not to buy anything new, I went for whatever was already in my kitchen.  It turned out great, and is one of my favorites now, but I was reminded of how God provides for our every need, just as he did for the Israelites.

I've always loved tomato soup, but it bothers me that your typical tomato soup is just liquid.  It always felt like no substance, and leaves you hungry later.  I like a soup that can stand on its own as a meal, not just an appetizer.  So I like to add leftovers to mine (one of my favorites is Turkey Tomato Noodle Soup with the Thanksgiving leftovers).  But recently, I was craving tomato soup but didn't have any leftovers to add to it.  I made some pasta, but my diet is sorely lacking in protein, so I decided to drop in a few eggs as well.  Total experiment, could have resulted in complete failure...but then I wouldn't be passing it on, would I?  I loved it!  This recipe was very cost effective, simple and quick to create, reasonably healthy, and made fantastic leftovers.  The only issue is that the sodium level is pretty high, so if you eat a lot of other salty food, you might want to opt for low- or no-sodium options on the canned food items.

The basics:

Prep time: 20 minutes or less (you can cut it down to about 5-10 minutes if you use leftover pasta :)

Good for leftovers: yes!

servings: 4-8, if you need more you can add more eggs and water it down a bit

cost: under $10 total


Ingredients:
2 cans condensed tomato soup
water
1 can stewed tomatoes (I used "italian recipe" but original would work fine too)
1 can garbanzo beans
1 egg per serving (i.e. each individual serving should have an egg, so if you want to serve 6, you'll need 6 eggs)
2 cups cooked pasta
about 1/2 can pitted olives
Herbes de Provence to season (this is a blend of rosemary, oregano, basil, thyme, etc so if you don't have the blend, any of these will complement this soup just as well)
Parmesan and pepper to season
optional: fresh tomatoes and/or avocados


The Process: Cook the pasta first (or use leftovers!).  Add 2 cans of water to your two cans of condensed soup in a medium to large pot.  Turn on the heat and stir.  You may want to use a whisk to get rid of any clumps of condensed soup, and make sure it's well blended.


Add the stewed tomatoes (do not drain) and the garbanzo beans and olives (drained), shake in several shakes of your herb blend, and bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally.  When the pot simmers, you want to crack each egg and dump them in one at a time (aim for different sides of your pot so they don't all cook together in one clump, you want a separate clump for each egg) and allow it to cook for another 4-5 minutes.  If done right, the yolk should be solid but not super hard like a hard-boiled egg- but if your egg is overdone or underdone it will be fine.  I've tried a few different ways and they were all good but the just barely boiled way turned out best. 


Remove from heat, stir in the cooked pasta, and serve.  Each serving should have an egg and a good deal of the rest of the soup as well. Top with some grated Parmesan and as much pepper as you like.  I also like to top mine with fresh chopped tomatoes and slices of avocado- if you do this, it will look better if you add them before the Parmesan and pepper.


Notes on pasta: any will do, but non-spaghetti types (shells, macaroni, bow-ties) will be easier to manage in your soup.  If you do use a long noodle such as spaghetti or fettuccine, you may want to cut the noodles into bite-sized pieces after cooking so they are better suited to using a spoon instead of a fork :)  I haven't tried it, but this might also taste really good with a cheese tortellini or ravioli, though that will bring your costs up a bit.


My dad would call this a "lycopene special" because of all the tomatoes.  Lycopene is supposed to help reduce the risk of cancer, but don't quote me on it because there's not a lot of research, and none of it conclusive.  Either way, it tastes pretty fantastic! I made this last night and I'm hoping to have the leftovers after my hike today, the idea being to avoid a major cooking/cleanup mess when I'm tired from the hike and have places to be afterward.  Let me know what you think!


I hope your Monday goes well, your students give you extra smiles, and you remember that you are a precious daughter of the King!
Love,
Joy


UPDATE 11/23:
I was visiting family and we didn't have any leftover pasta, but we did have a leftover blend of  brown rice and wild rice, and that worked great too.  I also added some canned mushrooms since I had them around.