Spring Has Sprung

The sun is out, the skies are blue, the flowers are blooming, the oaks are pollinating, it all adds up to one conclusion:Spring has arrived.

Mostly when I think about Spring I think "Easter".

When I think about Easter, I am typically thinking, "EGGS!" (sorry, Pastor!).

Now that my children are grown (chronologically at least), when I think of eggs my mind is overtaken by my stomach who happily gurgles "Egg Salad Sandwiches!"

Egg Salad is one of those concoctions that seems to exist for the sole purpose of taking different people different directions.

Not unlike potato salad, if you get 11 home cooks in a group and ask, you will get 11 slightly different recipes for egg salad.

My favorite in the spring garden- an egg salad sandwich plant

If you don't have your own Egg Salad Sandwich plant in the garden, as a starting point, I like this very basic recipe offered by Elise of Simply Recipes.

Egg Salad Sandwich Recipe

This recipe is for a one egg sandwich. If you have more eggs and more people to feed, just double, triple, etc. the recipe.
INGREDIENTS
1 large hard-boiled egg*, peeled and chopped
1-2 Tbsp mayonnaise (to taste)
1 Tbsp chopped green onion
2 Tbsp chopped celery
Curry powder
Salt
Pepper
1 leaf of lettuce
2 slices dark rye bread, toasted
* To make hard boiled eggs, place a few eggs in a saucepan, cover with at least an inch of water. Add a half teaspoon of vinegar and some salt to the water (if the shells crack while boiling, the vinegar will help keep the egg in the shell). Cover and bring the water to a boil. As soon as the water is boiling, remove from heat and let sit, covered, for 12 minutes. Drain water, add cold water to cool the eggs, let sit a couple minutes longer.
METHOD
1 Mash up the chopped egg a bit with a fork. Mix together the chopped hard-boiled egg, mayonnaise, onion and celery. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and curry powder. Mix.
2 If you haven't already, toast your bread slices. Put a layer of lettuce on one slice of toasted bread, spread the egg mixture on top of the lettuce, put another slice of toasted bread on top.
Makes one sandwich.

I always add a bit of powdered mustard to my egg salad (except when I don't).  I have also been known to throw in all sorts of other spices on occasion, including paprika, tumeric, and powdered sage. At times I've made egg salad with red onion, sweet Vidalias, chow chow, gherkins or dill pickles (but not all at one time). I even threw some finely chopped jalapeño in one batch. Egg salad is fun to play with.

And, eggs are an inexpensive form of protein.  In these economically troubled times, eggs represent a great way to get your daily supply of protein without breaking the bank.  

In my most recent foray into egg salad sandwich territory I used toasted pumpernickel rather than rye bread as suggested in the Simply Recipes version, but otherwise I stayed the course.

Egg Sandwich on a Blue Plate

The results? Delicious creamy crunchy egg salad sandwiches. Just the thing to take out and enjoy as a picnic lunch in the spring time sunshine.  

Rain or shine wherever you are, celebrate Spring with some egg salad sandwiches, fixed your way. Then let me know what you think constitutes a proper egg sandwich in the comments section. Perhaps we can build a compendium of egg salad add ins for posterity! Or maybe we will settle once and for all the burning eternal question, "Which came first? The chicken or the egg salad sandwich?".More Egg Salad Sandwich resources:
Serious Eats>Dinner Tonight: Grandmother's Egg Salad (Sandwich) - Blake Royer
The Egg Salad Gourmet
Smitten Kitchen Lost Recipe Haiku

Egg salad sandwich on a plate photo is my optimistic entry into Jugalbandi's April "CLICK!" event, more information on that here.