Reinvent Your Food: The Real Egg Salad Sandwich

A while back, THR’s Instagram account introduced you to The Real Egg Salad Sandwich. Well, yours truly thought it was high-food-craving-time to give you the details!

Look, I HATE when people try to make unhealthy recipes into healthy ones. It’s like, dude, if I want to eat tuna noodle casserole, let me eat the shit out of it. I don’t need a ‘tuna noodle casserole’ recipe which contains almond milk, non-fat greek yogurt and tofu shiritaki noodles. Ew. I’m an 80-20 girl at heart: give me a solid effort 80% of the time and spend the remaining 20% as you desire.

Me during my 20%:

ummm….moving on

Today I present to you The Real Egg Salad Sandwich. Not for the sandwich, but rather the idea. We can reinvent the foods we love in another form and they can be just as delicious, without being made up from an insane ingredient list. I promise.

Image by Kimberly Sabada MS, RD, LDN

The Real Egg Salad Sandwich

Makes 1 sandwich

Ingredients:
2 slices whole wheat bread
2 tablespoons hummus (your favorite)
10 leaves of baby kale
1 radish, thinly sliced
2 slices of red onion, broken apart
2 hard boiled eggs, peeled and sliced
2 slices of tomato
1/4 avocado mashed with 2 pinches of crushed red pepper

Directions:
This part is ridiculous. Um, assemble ingredients into a sandwich. I started with hummus, then kale, radish, onion, egg, and tomato. Slather avocado on other slice of  bread and form sandwich.

Yeah. These directions were dumb…

Pumpkin Seed Pesto

The seventh Star Wars has me freaking out and in that same, excited spirit I bring you pesto. Pesto is truly is one of the most versatile sauces. It can made with a variety of herbs and/or nuts. The basic mixture is always the same: herbs, nuts, olive oil, garlic, lemon juice and maybe some pecorino or Parmesan cheese. Boom. So simple, so flexible.

You can go traditional and use your pesto to coat pasta noodles.  I’ve taken it to new levels using it as dressing on salads, making it a base for tuna, chicken or egg salad, or mixed into scrambled eggs, mashed potatoes, rice, or polenta. I love this Kale and Walnut Pesto previously featured here on THR. Take home message: Pesto is awesome and feel free to experiment!

THR’s Pumpkin Seed Pesto

2 cups fresh bail leaves, tightly packed
3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup raw pumpkin seeds (raw is fine, but roasting provides deeper flavor)
2-3 cloves of garlic
1 tsp salt
1 tsp fresh lemon juice

Preparation:

To toast pumpkin seeds, place raw pumpkin seeds in the a dry sauté pan over medium heat. Toast and toss frequenlty for about 10 minutes. Once slightly browned and fragrant, place in a bowl and allow to cool slightly.

Seeds should look something like this and smell way more delicious, see below.

Photo by Kimberly Sabada

Combine basil, pumpkin seeds, garlic, salt and lemon juice together in a food processor, pulse a few times. With food processor running, slowly drizzle in olive oil until well blended, about 30 seconds. That’s it!

End. Game. Pic.

Photo by Kimberly Sabada

The Newest Craze: Sprouted Grains

(Because whole grains suddenly aren’t good enough)

Well much like that long lost ex of yours, traditional whole grains are about to resent you. Just when you thought you were doing everything right, sprouted grains come on the scene and you are left wondering where it all went so horribly wrong. I’m chalking sprouted grains up to a (legit) fad food, one equivalent to Salute Your Shorts. Sure you remember it, but then you realize it only ran for two seasons.

So what’s the deal with this new grain fetish? Look all grains start out as seeds with the potential to sprout into new plants with proper watering and sun light. Below is a comparison of wheat berries (aka kernels without the hull) and sprouted wheat berries.

Image from fanaticcook.blogspot.com

Sprouting enables certain changes to occur in the seed and thus the final baked good. Benefits include…

• Milder glycemic (blood sugar) response
• Improved bioavailability of minerals (think calcium and iron)
• Higher folate levels
• Increased antioxidants
• Insoluble fiber decreases (stuff that makes you poop)
• Soluble fiber increases (stuff that forms your poop so it’s not just water and food debris)
• Gluten decreases

The key with sprouting grain is the sprouting process must be stopped before the seed has time to start rotting or breaking down. Ew. Side bar – sprouted grains, specifically wheat, barely, rye, and their derivatives, are not indicated for those with Celiac disease despite their lower levels of gluten.

If you like sprouted grain products, by all means, go nuts. If you don’t, my tried and true stand by rule is to read your whole grain product’s ingredient list. The first ingredient should contain the word ‘whole’. If it doesn’t, your label is lying to you.

Satisfied?

 

*Reference: Whole Grain Council