Asparagus, Egg, and Bacon Salad with Dijon Viniagrette

 

We made this for dinner last night and it was SO good. It is a keeper and will be repeated many times. For the two of us I used two bunches of asparagus,  about 6 slices of bacon, and 5 hard boiled eggs so of course there are left overs! This will be a perfect hot summer night meal and everything can be prepped ahead of time and left to chill in the fridge. The only thing I did differently than the recipe was to enlarge the portion size and devil the eggs. Next time, I will only devil the eggs with a little bit of the dressing to keep it super healthy.

The recipe was found on SkinnyTaste.com and advertised as a Paleo friendly meal. For the original recipe, click HERE.

For my version, here's my portions of ingredients:
2 bunches of asparagus, chopped
6 slices of crispy bacon (I make mine in the microwave)
5 hard boiled eggs (devil a bit with some of the dressing)


Dressing = Dijon Viniagrette
8 tablespoons olive oil
8 tablespoons red wine vinegar
4 tablespoons dijon mustard
salt and pepper to taste

Barry's Pickled Eggs

A teacher I work with makes the best pickled eggs. He has brought them to teachers collaborative as a snack. They were so good I had to bring one home for SP to try. SP loves them even more than I do. After my last several attempts at pickled eggs, I finally remembered to ask Barry for his recipe. Buried in my email has been the recipe, lying totally forgotten, until today. I have yet to make them but when I do I will update this post with pictures. Off to buy some south west seasoning!

Ingredients
2 dozen hard boiled eggs, peeled
2 TBSP sea salt
1 TBSP mustard powder
1-2 TBSP Southwest seasoning
6 cloves fresh garlic
3 white onions
4 cups cider vinegar
1 cup water

Process

1. Slice onions and garlic.
2. Add the cider vinegar, water, salt, celery seed,
mustard seed and pickling spice in the sauce pan and bring to a boil.
3.  Put peeled hard boiled eggs, sliced onions, and sliced garlic in gallon glass jar.
4. Pour in boiling sauce and put lid on immediately so that when it cools it will seal.
(If sauce doesn't  fill the jar, top off with white vinegar until it is about 1/4 inch from the
top).

Pickled Eggs for Easter!

I made Pickled Eggs as part of the Food In Jars Mastery Challenge for the month of April. I used the recipe below, which is from The Incredible Egg, using the juice from two jars of pickled beets. The Incredible Egg called for canned beets (not pickled) but SP can not stand canned beets. The only jarred ones we could find were pickled, so without an alternative,  here goes nothing! Regardless, the eggs will  be beautiful and a wonderful addition to the Easter Table.  If they smell at all like his horrible childhood memory,  I will devil them and he will never know!

http://www.incredibleegg.org/recipe/pickled-eggs/

Ingredients
I  16 oz. jar beets
1 & 3/4 cups white vinegar
I cup sugar
1 & 1/2 TB whole allspice
1 stick cinnamon, halved (oops - missed that step)
8 Hard-boiled eggs, peeled

Process
1. Hard boil eggs.

2. Drain the beets, reserving the juice. Put the beets away in the fridge and use in a salad later.

3. In a medium sauce pan over medium high heat, combine the beet juice, vinegar, sugar and spices. Bring to a boil.

4. Reduce heat and simmer five minutes.

5. Peel the eggs and put in a 1 quart canning jar with a lid.

6. When finished simmering, pour the hot marinade over the eggs.
7. Cover tightly and allow to cool to room temperature for at least 1 hour.

8. Place in refrigerator and allow flavors to blend. This can be for several hours or up to a week. (mine will be there for a week and 3 days before eating).

Sap Eggs

There is nothing better than hardboiled eggs that were boiled in sap.

Seriously. You must try it.

HiHo's Potato Salad!

I am making this tonight for Puckstopper's birthday picnic at the Drive-in! It's a 2 screened double feature drive-in so at OUR screen, we're seeing Shrek and then Iron Man. This recipe was one of my favorite's of Mom's but never had a copy of it. Fortunately, it was permanantly etched with in the recesses of Mush's brain! Some of the best recipes are stored inside cooks' heads! Thanks for saving this one because it's a keeper!

She said, "This is how our mother presented this recipe to me, and this is how I make my potato salad to this day. This version is my husband's brother's favorite!" Here's to Conrad!

I love mayo and will only use Hellman's. Everyone has their preference I am sure. Also, I have made this recipe without sour cream before, sometimes because I was out. One of my soon to happen projects is to make my own mayonnaise. I will let you know how it goes because I love mayonnaise almost as much as I love cheese.

Potato Salad a la HiHo
Ingredients: - yea, see - no proportions... I will write mine out and add later.
Potatoes - one per person? Red potatoes and leave the skin on.
Sour Cream
Mayo
2 hard boiled eggs chopped
Red Onion chopped
Celery chopped
Italian dressing or red wine vinegar
salt and Pepper

Hard boil the eggs. Sometimes I do this with the potatoes. Boil potatoes keeping them al dente. Let cool. Dice and put in large bowl. Add equal parts of mayo and sour cream, chopped egg, chopped red onion, chopped celery (for crunch effect), a couple shots of Italian dressing or red wine vinegar, and salt and pepper to taste.

Smoked-Salmon Stuffed Eggs

Posting this recipe today makes me smile, because last week I gave my 10-year old son a cooking lesson: how to hard boil eggs!

Ingredients
6 hard-boiled eggs, shelled and cut in half lengthwise
6 ounces smoked salmon finely chopped
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
1 Tablespoon grated onion
1/8 teaspoon ground pepper
2 Tablespoons mayonnaise
capers and green scallion for garnish.

Process

1. Remove yolks from the eggs, place yolks in bowl and mash well.
   
2. Add the remaining ingredients (not capers and scallions) and mix well.
   
3. Use this mixture to stuff egg white halves, mounding the mixture into the shape of an egg.
   
4. Garnish with capers and scallion flowers.
   
5. Chill well before serving.