When it comes to holidays, part of the joy of celebrating is partaking in home-cooked meals that have traditional meaning to our families. A bonus, if you happen to be the hostess for said holiday, is leftovers that can feed your family for multiple meals. The only downside of leftovers, especially if you have a lot, is figuring out a way to add variety when incorporating them into your meals. Who wants to eat the same dinner five nights in a row? Not my family! But, we also don’t want the extra food to go to waste or spoil.
Most holidays have tried-and-true solutions for how to use your leftovers wisely. For example, in our house we know Thanksgiving leftovers will turn into yummy turkey sandwiches, turkey potpie, even turkey soup. At Christmastime, it’s a given that we will feast on ham sandwiches, split pea soup with ham, and ham and beans from Christmas Day right up ‘til New Year’s. That brings us to the holiday we’ve just celebrated – Easter. We all know what food is traditional at Easter, right? Eggs! Other than making deviled eggs, chicken salad and potato salad, what are some other ways we can add the multiple leftover boiled eggs into our meals? One way to use up some of those “egg-stras” is to put together a delicious, yet simple, egg salad that can be eaten in a sandwich or all by itself. (Please note: We always refrigerate our leftover eggs, boiled or not, to assure freshness!) To help you plan your post-Easter menu for the week, I’m sharing one of my favorite “five-minute” egg salad recipes from Martha Stewart (“Everyday Food,” March/April 2003):
Ingredients
- 8 hard-boiled eggs
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoons celery, chopped
- 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
- Few dashes hot-pepper sauce
- Salt and pepper
- Lettuce or watercress
- Bread or toast
*Optional: sliced black olives, chopped fresh parsley, chopped fresh chives, walnut pieces, chopped dill pickles, and capers.
In a medium bowl, coarsely chop 8 peeled hard-boiled eggs. Add 1/2 cup mayonnaise, 2 tablespoons chopped celery, 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard, and a few dashes of hot-pepper sauce (or more, if you like a spicier salad). Season to taste with salt and pepper; add any *optional ingredients you prefer. Stir gently to combine. Serve with lettuce or watercress on bread or toast.