It's Hip to be Square (or Tomato Egg Salad with Basil Onion Dressing)

Can you see it? There's a surprise hiding inside the tomato. Here- I'll show you.

Here's a little item I picked up at a local thrift store. Too funny.

And it does this. Too cute.

So I did this. 

What would you have done with a cute square egg?

Tomato Egg Salad with Basil Onion Dressing

You'll need:

1 small/medium sized tomato and 1 hard-boiled egg for each serving

mixed salad greens

Onion Basil Dressing

Directions:

• Make Onion Basil Dressing (Recipe follows.)
• Wash tomatoes. 
• Slice each egg into uniform slices. (I used an egg slicer.)
• Make vertical slices in each tomato, matching the number of egg slices. Cuts should go almost but not all the way through to the bottom (stem end) of the tomato. Gently fan the slices of the tomato.
• Carefully place egg slices into openings in the tomato.
• Place on a bed of greens and top with dressing.

Onion Basil Dressing

Recipe from my friend Carolyn, who served this lovely dressing over a plate full of heirloom tomatoes.

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1 Tablespoon chopped onion (to taste)

handful of fresh basil leaves

2-3 Tablespoons olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

Place all dressing ingredients into bowl of small food processor or blender. Blend until combined.

Egg-sparagus Wraps

Asparagus is one of those veggies that is best when it's in season locally, and thankfully, it won't be too much longer. Why? Asparagus is delicious any way you make it...roasted, steamed, in soup, with pasta, and now in this scrumptious sandwich.  I was in Sammy T's last week, and this wrap on the specials menu caught my eye. Egg salad, asparagus and bacon... how could I go wrong? It was indeed a wonderful sandwich. Wonderful enough for me to make it for dinner tonight.
This is more of a concept than a true recipe. You'll need egg salad, bacon, asparagus and some sort of flour tortilla or flatbread. (I made this one on a homemade tortilla, but you could use your favorite flatbread.)

Egg-sparagus Wrap
Egg Salad- Use your own recipe or the one below.
Start with perfectly boiled eggs. Boil enough water to cover 6 eggs. When water is boiling, gently lower room temperature eggs into water. Boil for exactly 14 minutes, then remove from heat. Run cold water over eggs until cooled. Peel.
Mash eggs with a fork. Add a  tablespoon of mayonnaise, a teaspoon of yellow mustard, 2 teaspoons of sweet pickle juice and salt and pepper to taste. (Depending on your eggs, you may need to add a bit more mayo or pickle juice.)
Bacon
Fry bacon until crisp. Drain excess fat.
Asparagus
Wash and drain asparagus. Saute in a little olive oil until desired tenderness is reached.

To assemble the wrap, spread about 1/2 cup of egg salad down the center of your flatbread. (Use more if you have a large tortilla.) Top with 2 or 3 slices of bacon and about 6 (or more) asparagus spears. The original sandwich had lettuce as well, so it wouldn't hurt my feelings if you tucked some in. Fold your wrap and enjoy one of the best treats of spring!

Devilish Eggs

Around here, deviled eggs disappear just as quickly as they appear so I don't know why I don't make them more often. My happy hens are laying again, so there were some extra eggs in my refrigerator. I've never really used a recipe for deviled eggs before, but have used the "dump it in until it tastes right" method. This time when I made them I actually did my best to figure out what I put in them. :) In addition to the traditional ingredients, I always add sweet pickle juice. If you don't have sweet pickles, you could also use the juice from sweet pickle relish.  And cayenne? It doesn't make them hot, it just gives them a little personality. (I made a mistake one day and used cayenne on the tops instead of paprika, and have used it ever since!) Perfect for a simple lunch with a green salad.

Start with:
Perfectly Boiled Eggs
Bring eggs to room temperature. (I always boil more than I need and use the rest for egg salad.) In a large saucepan, bring water to a rapid boil. Add a dash of salt. Gently lower eggs in with a ladle. Boil, uncovered for 14 minutes. Immediately pour off boiling water and cover with cold water to halt the cooking process. Add cold water to the eggs as the water warms. As soon as the eggs are cool enough to handle, crack and peel.

Directions:
Slice 6 hard boiled eggs in half lengthwise. Put the yolks in a small bowl. Put the whites aside on a dish. With a fork, mash yolks until all lumps disappear. Add:
1 1/2 Tbsp.mayonnaise
2 tsp. yellow mustard
dash of cayenne pepper
1 Tbsp. sweet pickle juice (the secret ingredient)
salt and pepper to taste

Mix together until blended. Spoon the mixture back into the shells or pipe it in using a star tip with a frosting bag.
Garnish with a sprinkle of paprika. (or more cayenne if you dare!)