Farmers Market Favorite Egg Salad for Grown-Ups

Say a certain long-eared mythical creature has dropped by with a dozen or so colorful hard-boiled treasures dropped by over the weekend. The children in your family may have raced around a yard and unearthed the jewel-toned treats and exulted in their success for maybe an hour....then concentrated their attention to the treats that accompanied the hunt. A basketful of candy, wrapped in bright spring-colored attention-getting labels, too sweet for the more mature palates in the house. When I was a young mother the Easter Bunny, I might have been tempted to steal ask politely for a few jelly beans-- red ones, please, or Smartees-- green ones please, or seasonal pastel M&Ms with almonds-- pink ones, please, but it was really the more savory and satisfying that I preferred-- those REAL EGGS.

When I distracted the girls long enough to nab the booty  got my hands on asked politely for those golden yolked goodies, my first order of business was a bonafide adult egg salad. I'd fill it, not with that cloying sweet pickle relish, but as many fresh green herbs and crunchy vegetables I could get my hands on, and pile it high NOT on delicate and puff cloud white bread, but a dense, whole grain rye or seeded slice, maybe toasted if I had enough time before the theft was discovered the girls were contentedly reading the special book the Bunny chose yearly for each, studding the sandwich with additional veggies where they'd fit. I'd hide in a closet retire to a quiet corner and hunch greedily over my ill-gotten gains recharge with a languid lunch and a pitcher of mimosas cup of tea after the morning's festivities.

This was no ordinary egg salad sandwich. This was an adult egg salad for grown-ups.

Over the holiday weekend, I prepared this particular incarnation at the Texas Farmers' Market at Lakeline, with slight variations the next day at the Texas Farmers' Market at Mueller. So well received were each versions that several vendors sold out of their particular ingredient, and there was a definite dent in the dill at both markets.

Each ingredient in this salad was sourced directly from the market vendor, and no other ingredients "from the outside" made the cut. Completely market-driven, to my delight this vegetable-packed, healthy and sophisticated egg salad was a smash success with market-goers, who scurried off with the recipe in their heads and these ingredients in their totes:

 One dozen OrganicareFarms eggs, hard boiled

1 jar Stellar Gourmet Pecan Alioli*

1 bunch thin asparagus spears, stems finely sliced (Hairston Creek Farm) 

  

1 bunch young carrots, peeled and sliced thinly, with carrot top greens chopped and large stems removed (Johnson’s Backyard Garden)

1/2 bunch fresh dill, chopped finely (Johnson’s Backyard Garden)

Optional salt, additional olive oil, if needed (Texas Hill Country Olive Company)

In a large mixing bowl, grate boiled eggs with a large-holed grater.  Fold in remaining ingredients. If too dry, add just enough olive oil to bind ingredients together. Serve on a slice of hearty, whole grain bread, perhaps toasted, dressed with additional seasonal vegetables of your choice tucked under a generous sunny mound of salad.

At the Texas Farmers’ Market at Mueller, I substituted Stellar Gourmet’s wildly popular Poblano Ranch Dressing for their pecan alioli*, which they sold out of the previous day to eager samplers, and nutritional powerhouse dandelion greens, chopped finely, from JBG Organic in place of the asparagus that was swept up by eager sandwich makers on Saturday.

* Alioli is similar to the more familiar aioli in flavor, but traditionally contains no egg, thus making it suitable for vegans. If you aren't a local, or simply prefer to start from scratch, a great beginning is this aioli, made in home. 

Find tips for boiling eggs, including not boiling the boiled eggs, at the following links: 

The Kitchn: How to boil perfect eggs every time

Serious Eats: Perfect Steamed Boiled Eggs

Alton Brown: Baked Eggs (video)