Today: How to make egg salad, breakfast-style, with Andie Mitchell, author of the newly-released cookbook Eating in the Middle. This article is brought to you by Clarkson Potter. Head here to learn more about Andie Mitchell's Eating in the Middle.
Depending on who you ask, and perhaps where they're from, egg salad recipes could be considered fightin' words, side-eyeing each other as rivals from different sides of the country.
Personal tweaks abound: They're all mayonnaise and yellow mustard, dotted with yolks, or covered in sprouts, chock full of capers, pickles, and whatever other green things are lying about. Some might take a turn for the sweet, or head down a path of spicy. A couple of our editors have even duked out their differing opinions, and you all had something to say about it, too.
And Andie Mitchell, author of the new cookbook Eating in the Middle and the New York Times best-selling memoir It Was Me All Along, has her own version, too—and she serves it for breakfast.
Hers takes cues from a classic morning, one that begins with eggs and sizzling bacon, bits and pieces piled high on a piece of toast. "When I was younger, my mom was always making egg salad and eating it right away, when it was still slightly warm," Andie shares. "There’s something kind of nice about that versus cold." Her now-fiancé was the one who suggested an addition of bacon to her mom's tried-and-true, but Andie was the one who swapped in some Greek yogurt for part of the mayonnaise.
Andie likes to play with recipes meant for a specific meal and adapting them to fit into other times of her day, noting a bagel and lox salad that also appears in Eating in the Middle. In the headnotes for her Breakfast Egg Salad, she asks a question I've now asked myself:
Why aren't more of us eating egg salad in the morning? I only waited twenty-nine years to ask myself this question, and, well, here we are.
And traditional bacon and chives isn't the only way you can take this egg salad. Andie has many suggestions for different flavors and ingredients to make it your own:
Swap in, or add, some oil-packed, well-drained sun-dried tomatoes, pesto, and artichoke hearts.
Drop the mayonnaise and make it more of a chunky salad/salsa with dill, fresh tomatoes, and avocado.
Dial up the spice by adding curry powder, a little fresh cilantro, and dried cranberries or golden raisins. You can also skip the dried fruit and maybe toss in toasted nuts, Andie says.
Mix in Mediterranean flavors with goat cheese, fresh basil, pine nuts, and a drizzle of garlic olive oil in place of the mayonnaise.
Make it Middle Eastern with a sauce of whisked tahini and lemon and stir in chopped, roasted vegetables like eggplant, zucchini, and squash, plus fresh herbs. Andie mentions basil as a good option, but parsley or tarragon would do just as well.
| 6 | large eggs |
| 2 | tablespoons full-fat mayonnaise |
| 2 | tablespoons plain 2% Greek yogurt |
| 2 | teaspoons Dijon mustard |
| 4 | slices cooked bacon, crumbled |
| 3 | tablespoons finely chopped red onion |
| 1 | tablespoon finely chopped fresh chives |
| 1/4 | teaspoon salt |
| 1/4 | teaspoon freshly ground black pepper |
| 4 | pieces 100% whole-grain bread, toasted |
| 6 | large eggs |
| 2 | tablespoons full-fat mayonnaise |
| 2 | tablespoons plain 2% Greek yogurt |
| 2 | teaspoons Dijon mustard |
| 4 | slices cooked bacon, crumbled |
| 3 | tablespoons finely chopped red onion |
| 1 | tablespoon finely chopped fresh chives |
| 1/4 | teaspoon salt |
| 1/4 | teaspoon freshly ground black pepper |
| 4 | pieces 100% whole-grain bread, toasted |
This article is brought to you by Clarkson Potter. Head here to learn more about Andie Mitchell's Eating in the Middle.
Written by: Samantha Weiss Hills
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