Quick and easy appetizers or coffee break snack

For some of us who prefer savory over sweet, many morning coffee gatherings don't provide a lot of options. So when I was called on to bring a treat for one of these occasions this week, I decided to make these quick little bites to go with some apple slices and a quick bread.

With a local store featuring a dozen eggs for 49 cents and still some onions and green peppers from the garden, the cost was minimal, and they are very fast to make too, nice when you have an already busy morning planned.

Because they also work well if made the night before, you might want to bake them ahead in full size muffin cups, refrigerate, and then have them ready for the family to pop into the microwave for only 10 to 15 seconds--instant protein-charged breakfast!

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Mini Egg and Cheese Bites

2 T olive oil

a total of 2 c finely chopped onion, pepper, and mushrooms

½ c chopped cilantro

8 eggs

¼ c flour

½ t baking powder

1 t seasoning salt

1 to 2 t Italian seasoning, to taste

1 t black pepper

1 1/2 c grated Cheddar cheese (5 oz)

1.  Saute the onions, peppers, and mushrooms in the olive oil on medium heat until the onions are golden and all are quite limp. If necessary, add a few drops of water to keep the onions from burning. Add the cilantro about a minute or two before removing the vegetables from heat.

2.  Meanwhile, beat the eggs, flour, baking powder, and seasonings until completely blended. Stir in the cheese and mix until completely incorporated. Fold in the vegetables.

3.  Using baking spray or oil, liberally grease 24 miniature muffin cups. Spoon the batter into the cups.

4.  Bake at 325 for 15 to 20 minutes. Serve hot out of the oven or at room temperature. Salsa is a nice accompaniment.

Variations:

Omit the mushrooms or peppers if you don't care for them, or substitute finely chopped broccoli.

Saute 1/2 c finely chopped onions as in the recipe above. When they are just beginning to turn golden, stir in 1 to 2 cups finely shredded spinach or kale. Cover and cook for about 2 to 3 minutes more, until the greens are just limp.

Substitute basil, thyme, or other fresh herbs of your choice for the cilantro.

To Boil an Egg...and Then to Use It

The perfect boiled egg...how hard can that be? Actually, not too hard at all, but it can also be an elusive goal, especially if you want to avoid that gray-green ring around the outside of the yolk or to have the center still runny when you had hoped to make deviled eggs or use the slices as a garnish.

Now, with millions (billions?) of eggs meeting a watery fate in preparation for all this weekend's egg coloring fun, time to consider how best to get them cooked to perfection.

First, to "boiling" the perfect hard-cooked egg. This method works well for one egg or a dozen, so even after Easter, when you are ready to cook one egg, why not go ahead and boil up quite a few at once--they keep well in the refrigerator for up to a week.

If you hadn't noticed, I've been putting the word boiled in quotes; why? Because that's the classic name for this method of preparation, but you really want to stop cooking them just as the boiling starts; any longer and you'll have tough whites and really gray-ish yolks. 

Hard "Boiled" Eggs

eggs
water

Put as many eggs as you plan to prepare in a pan large enough to hold them in a single layer. Add enough cold water from the tap to just barely cover the eggs. Cover the pan and place on the burner.

Begin heating the eggs on high or medium high heat, and cook until the water just begins to show a rolling/rippling boil. Immediately remove from heat. Set a timer for the following amount of time:

Extra large eggs      16 to 17 minutes
Large eggs              14 minutes
Medium eggs          12 minutes

As soon as the timer goes off, pour off all the water and cover the eggs with cold water from the tap. Let sit for just a minute or two, until that water becomes warm, and pour it off, replacing it with more cold water. Alternatively, you can place the eggs under cold running water, but that seems pretty wasteful to me.

The whole idea is to get the eggs to stop cooking as quickly as possible after the timer has gone off.
Probably the trickiest step here is to watch for the eggs to come to a boil. Unfortunately, this is not a uniform time. If the eggs were at room temperature, the time will be shorter than if they are straight out of the refrigerator. A dozen eggs will take longer than two or six or whatever. So you'll have to just be a little alert--steam rising from the pan, the eggs starting to "rattle" in the pan as the water begins moving, etc. Maybe the easiest way to do this is to cook the eggs while you are preparing other foods, clearing the table, doing dishes, etc.




In case you are wondering about the holes in the shells in this picture: We all love to color far more eggs at our house than we could possibly eat, so I follow a practice taught me by my thrifty mother. In the weeks leading up to Easter, I use an ice pick to put holes in both ends of eggs I may be using for baking, scrambled eggs, etc. Then I blow out the contents into a cup, wash out the shells and let them dry thoroughly, and put them aside to be ready to supplement the ones we also boil. These are admittedly a little harder to dye, since they float in the solution, but they are also more amenable to decorations that aren't edible--and are super great for hanging on an Easter egg tree.

Even with these blown eggs, we still have plenty of cooked eggs to use up.  Now that eggs have lost the "bad guy" status in our diets, they can be a good way to boost the protein content of your menus at a relatively low cost, but how many times is your family really ready to eat another boiled egg with salt and pepper?! In my next post, I'll be including a recipe or two to get a little more variety into those leftover egg meals.

Some questions you may have:

• How do I prevent the eggs from cracking while cooking?  Sometimes, the eggs will just have shells so thin, they will crack no matter how hard you try. If they do, they are still fine for eating, just not so pretty for coloring or making deviled eggs. And don't use any boiled eggs with cracks for Easter baskets or for egg hunts--the chance for bacteria entering these cracks is too high in these situations.

• Is it really true that "old" eggs are easier to peel than fresh ones?  Yes, it seems as though the freshest eggs may still have the inner membrane more tightly attached to the shell than those that are a little older. However, using the approach above,  cooling the eggs as quickly as possible, seems to help a little with this problem too. Another way to make peeling eggs a little easier is to crack them and then kind of roll them around, to break up the shell a little more before trying to peel them. Sometimes, however, they just are going to make you work at getting the shell off.

• What about food safety? My kids will be having an Easter egg hunt with real eggs. Is it true that I just have to automatically throw these out? NO. However, you do need to use some common sense. If you are having a hunt like this, keep the eggs refrigerated until right before hiding them. When the kids have finished finding them (hopefully every one of them!), count them, maybe even mark them with the initials of the person finding them, and then return them to the refrigerator until serving them.  

The U.S. Department of Agriculture makes the following recommendations on buying, keeping and preparing eggs:

•When buying eggs, get them from a refrigerated case, before the expiration date on the carton.
•Select eggs that look clean and uncracked.
•After leaving the grocery store, take the eggs straight home and refrigerate them immediately.
•Store eggs in their original carton in the main part of the refrigerator, instead of the door.
•Make sure the temperature in the refrigerator is at least 40 degrees Fahrenheit.
•Eggs should be used within three to five weeks from the date they were purchased.
•When preparing raw eggs, remember to wash your hands, as well as the surfaces and cooking utensils used, with hot soapy water, in order to prevent cross- contamination.
•Raw or cooked eggs should not be left at room temperature for more than two hours.
“When decorating eggs, hard-cook them and use food grade dye to color them if you intend to eat them,” said Haynes.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture makes the following recommendations on hiding, keeping and eating eggs:
•During Easter egg hunts, hide eggs away from animals, dirt and other sources of bacteria.
•Keep eggs in the refrigerator until right before the hunt and put them back in the refrigerator right after the hunt.
•Make sure the eggs have not been at room temperature for longer than two hours total.
•Consume hard-cooked eggs in their shells within a week of cooking, and egg dishes, like deviled eggs, within three to four days.

of course, what to do with all those eggs afterward. Now that eggs have lost the "bad guy" status in our diets, they can be a  good way to boost the protein content of your menus at a relatively low cost. The next post will have a recipe or two for fitting hard boiled eggs into the menus for the coming week.

Start the Day with Veggies!

Have you looked at a calorie chart for the typical coffee shop muffin or bagel and toppings?

It doesn't take long for just one of these to top 500, even 600 calories.  Add the calories in that mocha or whatever other special drink you ordered with it, and your "light" breakfast has eaten up a huge part of the day's calories, without much real nutritional benefit.

(And if you really want to go "whole hog," eat a classic Cinnabon roll, just one, and you've consumed 730 calories.)

If you'd like to make a weekend breakfast (or brunch) that will give you a much healthier start, no more calories, lower cost, and not a lot of prep time, here's a suggested alternative...veggies for breakfast!

Okay, I know that vegetables may still be the "good" food group hardest to get enough of. Now that there are lots of bright vegetables at the farmers' market and in the grocery store, it's time to try some new flavors and combinations.

Today's recipe (with toppings shown in the photo) will add up to well less than 400 calories, high in protein, and even gluten-free if that is important to you. With carrots and onions mixed in with the colorful chard, this might be something even the most resistant greens eaters will try. You can reduce calories further if you use yogurt as a topping instead of the tablespoon of 2% cheese shown here--or just skip entirely.

Morning Vegetables with Eggs

canola or olive oil
4 c rainbow chard (about 4 to 6 oz)
1/3 c chopped onion
3/4 c sliced carrots (1 medium)
1 seeded jalapeno, chopped (optional)
1 to 2 cloves garlic (optional)
1/4 to 1/2 t Italian seasoning OR dried basil

3 eggs

Optional toppings:
salsa
shredded 2% cheddar or mozzarella cheese
plain, fat free yogurt
roasted, salted sunflower seeds

1.  Separate the chard stems from the leaves. Coarsely cut the leaves and set aside. Chop the stems in 1/2-1 inch lengths.
2.  Put just enough oil in a non-stick pan to lightly coat it. Stir in the onions, carrots, and chopped chard stems. Saute over medium heat until the onions are translucent and the carrots are barely tender.
3.  Stir in the jalapeno, chard leaves and seasonings. Reduce heat to low, cover and cook just until the chard is limp and tender.
4.  Meanwhile, stir the eggs together with a fork just enough to blend the yolks and whites into a uniform color. Heat to medium to medium high a small amount of oil in a small skillet and stir the eggs into the pan.
5.  Stir the eggs occasionally as they cook, breaking them up as needed to obtain the scrambled egg texture you prefer.
6. Serve the eggs and vegetables with any of the optional toppings--or anything else you like to add! Fresh herbs, hot sauce, even soy sauce might be choices your family prefers.

Serves two but easily doubled or more.

Eggs, Eggs, Eggs

Perhaps you are looking for ways to use up all those boiled eggs. Or maybe you have been asked to bring an egg dish to an Easter brunch. First, some egg dishes you can still make for this year's Easter breakfast or brunch:

Vegetarian Strata
Basic Frittatas, and More
Raspberry French Toast and Savory Breakfast Eggs with Vegetables

And then, the boiled eggs. I have not had to deal with an excess of boiled eggs over the years, thanks to my mother. Many years ago, well before I was born, she introduced the custom of "blowing eggs" in preparation for the coming Easter egg decoration. With a large family, there was no way we would have been able to eat all the hard-boiled eggs needed to satisfy the artistic endeavors of several kids.
 
Thus, every time she made anything with eggs in the weeks before Easter, the ice pick would come out, and we would take turns poking holes in each end of a well-washed egg and then blowing the contents into a cup before adding it to the batter. A big goal was to get the egg contents out with an unbroken yolk, while still keeping the holes as small as possible. After rinsing and draining, the eggs were then set aside, ready for the Easter Saturday egg decorating extravaganza.

Blown eggs can be very ornately decorated because they will not be immediately cracked and eaten. Inedible trims are not a problem either, so crayons, markers, glued on tissue paper, etc., are all fuel for the budding egg artists.

Now, when I bring out the old ice pick, the grandkids wonder what it is, they ask if it is safe to put their mouths on the shells, if we are sure the eggs have been washed...but then they enter into the process with gusto.

Since I didn't start early enough with the egg blowing, there are another dozen and a half "real"--boiled--eggs for coloring as well. Still some more decorating of the hollow eggs before we slip strings into them to tie on a bush in the front for our own Easter egg tree. 

The boiled eggs are already in the refrigerator; some will be used for a batch of egg salad filling. The rest will become part of a salad or two during the coming week. For a couple of recipes, including a very unusual one, go to the following link.

 Two Salads with Boiled Eggs

And the egg salad? Here's my quick recipe. It is best on homemade rolls, with lots of new garden lettuce or baby spinach to add texture and crunch.

Egg Salad Sandwich Filling

6 hard boiled eggs, chopped
1/4 to 1/3 c plain nonfat yogurt
1 T sugar
1 to 2 t prepared yellow or brown mustard
seasoning salt to taste (optional)
sprinkle of freshly ground black pepper
good hard rolls or homemade buns

1.  Peel and coarsely chop the eggs. Use a pastry blender or fork, OR use an egg slicer and cut the eggs first in one direction and then in another.
2.  Stir in the remaining ingredients and taste. Your family may prefer a little more or less mustard, a little more or less sugar. Adjust as needed.

Six eggs will make enough for six good sized sandwiches.

Variations:
Use equal amounts of honey mustard dressing and yogurt, omitting the other seasonings. 
Add small amounts of finely chopped onion (red onion gives this a lovely color contrast), bell pepper, celery, or grated carrot.

About Those Hard-Boiled Eggs

Egg salad sandwiches. Hard boiled eggs with toast. More egg salad sandwiches....

Not ready with a lot of options for all those eggs you are spending today decorating and hunting tomorrow? Here are a few ideas for using them up.

(Of course, you did keep them refrigerated except for the hour or so--at most--that you were hunting them, right? If not, don't take chances; they need to be composted rather than eaten.)

But, for the safe eggs you want to incorporate into menus this week, an old-time vegetarian main dish salad and a variation on the tried and true Chef's Salad:

Kidney Bean and Egg Salad

1/3 c finely diced sweet onion
2 c (or 15 oz can) kidney beans, drained
3 hard boiled eggs, peeled and chopped coarsely
2 c diced or thinly sliced celery
Yogurt Dressing

Combine all ingredients with dressing. Taste for seasonings and adjust as needed. Chill for an hour or more to blend flavors. Garnish with parsley or serve on lettuce leaves if desired.

Yogurt Dressing

2/3 c plain yogurt
1 to 2 t prepared yellow mustard
3 to 4 t sugar (see NOTE)
salt or seasoning salt and pepper to taste (see NOTE)

Combine ingredients and mix well. This is very similar to "mayonnaise style salad dressing" that works well on old-fashioned potato salad or even as a sandwich spread instead of mayo.

NOTE: If using canned kidney beans, be aware that these almost always contain added sugar and salt, so don't add either of these ingredients to the dressing until you have tasted the salad to see how much will be needed.

One more thing--the serving suggestion in the photo above includes fresh orange slices. Keep in mind that the iron in plant foods (and kidney beans are a particularly good iron source) is far better utilized if you include foods rich in Vitamin C at the same meal.

Vegetarian Chef's Salad

Per main dish serving:
1 to 2 c baby spinach leaves, coarsely chopped
1 c iceberg or romaine lettuce, torn
2 T diced bell pepper (see NOTE)
sweet or red onion--2 t finely chopped OR thinly sliced and separated into rings
3 to 4 black olives, sliced
1 hard-boiled egg, sliced
1 oz cheese, your choice, grated or cut in fine cubes
1 T chopped parsley or fresh basil (optional)
vinaigrette dressing of your choice
freshly ground black pepper

Combine the greens, peppers and onions and toss in the black olives and cheese. If serving in individual bowls, arrange the egg slices over the top of each serving and sprinkle with the parsley or basil. Otherwise, fold the egg slices in with the olives and cheese, reserving a few for garnish on top. Serve the dressing at the table.

NOTE: This time of the year, fresh tomatoes rarely are very flavorful, and bell peppers can be quite price-y. If you are making this salad with good tomatoes available, by all means add them in. If, however, you don't have either tomatoes or red bell peppers, look for roasted sweet peppers in the pickle section of the market. These are often reasonably priced (compare the weight to the cost of fresh produce) and will keep in the refrigerator for several weeks, and they add a nice touch of color to salads and casseroles when we are really looking for some brightness in our menus.

And--if you have a Trader Joe's near you, look for their frozen pepper strips. These too are a reasonable alternative for casseroles and even salads when the price of fresh peppers might otherwise keep these wonderful vegetables off your table.

Frittatas--and being thankful for eggs

Today I had an egg for lunch.

Nothing spectacular, just a way to balance out the mixture of carrots, onions, peppers, and grated potatoes that were a pepped up version of hash browns--with my seasoned cast iron skillet, I can "fry" this mixture with only a teaspoon of oil, so it's healthier than it sounds. Some plain yogurt on the side and lots of spicy seasoning (and, I must admit, the dash of ketchup that I put on hash browns if I don't have fresh salsa handy), and the meal was complete.

But back to the egg.

At this morning's Toastmaster's meeting, one of our members from Ghana shared a favorite part of her childhood birthday celebrations. There would be a special dish made from yams (sorry, I didn't get the Ghanian name) and then an egg would usually be served on top.

An egg. Just a plain egg. But for her, this was special, because this was a luxury. At other times, if there were eggs to be had, several children would have to share one egg, each getting just a little piece to savor. The joy of having an egg all to yourself was such a special birthday treat that it remains a favorite memory years later and half a world apart.

To prepare today's luncheon egg--and it wasn't even my birthday--I just pushed the vegetables to the side when they were quite brown and crispy, dropped the egg in, turned the burner off, and covered the pan. The heat of the cast iron was just right for cooking the egg tenderly and thoroughly in only a few minutes.

The morning discussion was a good reminder of how blessed we are to have so much available to us. It also reminded me that in this country, eggs are really good choices for frugal meals in a hurry. In fact, we need to be sure that we don't overd0--have you noticed how hard it is to get an omelet at any restaurant that is made with less than three eggs?

And omelets when eating out are almost always breakfast or brunch fare. However, all this thinking about eggs reminded me of one of my favorite fast and frugal main dishes--frittatas.

If ever there was a dish that needed a template more than a recipe, this is it. The variations are limited only by what you happen to have in your refrigerator, and this is a really good choice for those small amounts of leftovers you weren't sure you'd ever be able to use.

Basic Frittata--a Template

2 eggs per person
1 to 2 t milk for every 2 eggs
Oil for sauteeing vegetables and cooking eggs
Possible add-ins:

• chopped onions
• chopped bell peppers (or a tiny amount of jalapeno, poblano, or spicy banana peppers)
• minced garlic
• grated zucchini, small broccoli flowerets, etc.
• diced fresh tomatoes
• spinach or other greens, coarsely chopped
• leftover cooked vegetables--broccoli, cauliflower, peas, carrots, beans, etc.
• leftover diced ham, chicken, beef cubes
• hot dog slices
• black or green sliced olives
• diced or grated cheese, any variety of your choosing (see NOTE below)
• herbs of your choice, fresh or dried
• freshly ground black pepper
• salsa

1. If you are using onions, peppers, or other fresh vegetables, saute them in a small amount of oil until just tender. Onions should be translucent and just starting to turn golden. If you have leftover ham (or bacon--does anyone ever have leftover bacon?), stir that in with the vegetables to meld the flavors. Use a very large pan, as you will want the frittata to spread out thinly for the most even cooking.

2. While the vegetables are cooking, beat the eggs together with the milk. Stir in any herbs or garlic you will be using. Beat until the eggs are a uniform yellow color.

3. Fold in any other ingredients you will be using into the eggs. Turn the heat to medium low and pour the egg mixture over the sauteed vegetables.

Now you have a choice, the purist method and the get it done quickly approach:

3a. Purists: Allow the eggs to cook for 3 to 5 minutes. Gently lift a corner of the mixture. If it holds together, you can try to flip the entire mixture over, keeping the frittata as intact as possible. Continue cooking until the second side is completely set.

OR

3b Get it done quickly: As the eggs cook, gently push the mixture with a spatula so that all parts are cooked evenly--like you would do when making scrambled eggs. Cook until all the frittata is set and has lost the wet shininess of uncooked eggs.

NOTE:
If using cheese, you can fold cubes of cheese into the eggs and cook along with the other ingredients, resulting in little melted pockets of cheese throughout the mixture. An alternative is to cook the frittata and then sprinkle with grated cheese. Run the pan under the broiler until the cheese is melted.

Serving suggestions:

If you have either corn or flour tortillas, the frittata can become a filling for a burrito. Refried beans and salsa are great accompaniments for this meal.

Just about any kind of bread goes well with a frittata, really the only accompaniment needed if you stir lots of vegetables into the eggs.

So what proportions of eggs and vegetables or other add-ins should be used? There is a tremendous amount of flexibility with a frittata. You can add just a little (perhaps a quarter cup of sauteed onions and peppers for 6 to 8 eggs) and have something very similar to scrambled eggs to serve with a tossed salad. You can also add up to 2 to 3 cups of vegetables and meat to only 6 eggs and have what will be much more like a vegetable main dish. The choice is yours, based on your family's preference--and the contents of your refrigerator!


And finally--in case you wondered:

What is the difference between an omelet and a frittata?

With an omelet, the eggs are cooked separately (as in step 3a above). When they are just set, the other ingredients are laid across the top and the egg layer is folded over the top. Often, this is then put in the oven to complete the cooking of the eggs. Frittatas just take the shortcut of mixing everything together.

A Basic Tutorial on Separating Eggs

Cracking an egg seems about as basic as boiling water, but separating yolks from whites can seem a little trickier, especially if you have never been able to watch someone else do this. Since the separation step is probably the hardest part of the Lemon Pudding Cake, here are a few hints to

1. If you will be separating more than one egg, you will need three bowls. The good news is that one of these will be the bowl you will be beating the egg whites in. The other bowls can be quite small.

2. Crack the egg, holding it over one of the smaller bowls. Then, shifting the yolk from one side of the shell to the other, let the egg white flow into the bowl.

3. When as much of the white is removed from the shell as possible, put the yolk into one of the other dishes and pour the saved egg white into the mixing bowl.

Here is the reason for the three bowls: When you are separating the eggs, it is possible that the yolk may break and some of the yolk will fall into the egg white in the bowl. However, even the tiniest bit of egg yolk will keep the whites from forming the foamy texture you want when beating them. By putting each egg white into another bowl as you separate the eggs, you avoid having all the egg whites spoiled should a bit of yolk get in them.

If you want to see some videos with a couple of other methods—including using your hand instead of the shell to do the separating, go to http://www.wikihow.com/Separate-an-Egg
One more thing: if you do get egg yolk into one of the egg whites, DON'T throw it out! If you have no other baking to do right away, an egg out of the shell like this can be tightly covered and refrigerated for a day or two or used for an impromptu scrambled egg supper.