Collard & Benne Seed Salad

I'm way overdue with this.  I totally made this salad Monday with the intention of sharing it yesterday.  It's totally good for a Thursday, though!  In fact, it's super duper healthy.  I mean, if this doesn't have fiber, I don't know what does.  Plus you've got some collards for a bit of color and a tangy mustard dressing.  I've called this a salad, but don't let that make you think it's dainty.  No, this is a heavy lifter.  Oh, and benne seeds are just a Southern way of saying sesame seeds.  So get to it!

Deviled Egg Salad

Lucky Charms are my Saturday cereal.  As in, I have a healthy-ish Kashi cereal that I eat during the week (and love, don't get me wrong), and then I have a special sugar-laden cereal for Saturdays.  I mean, something that turns your milk a weird blue-green color probably isn't something you should eat more than once a week amiright?  But I poured almond milk over it, so it's kind of a little healthy-ish (Yeah right).  Truthfully, when I get to the end of the bowl I start to eat only the cereal bits so that the last few bites are just marshmallows.  Because those are totally the best part!

I love me some deviled eggs too now, y'all.  I've had some lovely deviled eggs, and I've had some, um, less-than delightful versions.  So the other day I thought I'd like some deviled eggs but not a whole bunch.  And really I'd like it to be egg salad.  So let's make it deviled egg salad.  It's the best of both worlds!

So we've got: hard-boiled eggs, green onion, mustard, mayonnaise, Greek yogurt, sweet pickle relish, sweet paprika, hot paprika, and salt.  My new favorite way to get a perfectly boiled egg is actually by not boiling it at all.  I've been seeing this method for cooking the eggs in the oven of all things, and they come out perfect!  Here's the instructions, in case you don't have a favorite method of making hard-boiled eggs yourself.

Pop out the yolks into a bowl.  They should come out pretty easily.  I had one shoot out at me, so you might want to be careful of wayward yolks.

Now it's equal parts mayonnaise and Greek yogurt.  The yogurt cuts down on some of the fat in this, so if you wanted to be super-healthy you could use all yogurt.  Or if you want to be crazy indulgent, use all mayo.  Either way, Miracle Whip should never enter the equation.

Next up are the mustard and pickle relish.  I used this wonderful caramelized onion mustard I've had lying around, but you can use the mustard of your choice.  Yellow mustard would create a more classic flavor profile, and Dijon would bring a bit of depth.  My pickle relish I think was Food Lion brand so no need to get the fanciest pickle relish you can find unless you really want to.

Finally, the two paprikas and the salt spice up our dressing.

Slice up the egg whites into about 8 evenly sized pieces.  Just cut once down the center and make three cuts horizontally.  Boom.  Easy peasy.

The two eggs meet again.

 Thinly slice the green part of the onion.

Toss in a few of the slices and mix it up!

I think this egg salad is perfect on a toasted piece of crusty bread.  It's a chunky egg salad, so a bread with some substance to it really holds up well.  Top with a few more green onions and a sprinkling of paprika, and it's perfect.  It really makes me think of spring because we always have deviled eggs at Easter.

I had this for lunch.  And dinner.  And maybe a snack later today.  It's got all the flavors of deviled eggs and would be perfect for a picnic.  Fix your egg salad, toast up some bread, and put the two together when you get there.  No soggy egg salad sandwiches for you!

Deviled Egg Salad (makes about 1 1/2 cups)

4 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and sliced in half
1 tbs Greek yogurt
1 tbs mayonnaise (Recommended: Duke's)
1 tsp mustard of your choice
1 tsp sweet pickle relish
1/4 tsp hot paprika
1/4 tsp sweet paprika, plus more for topping
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tbs thinly sliced green onion, plus more for topping (Green part only)

• In a small bowl, combine the egg yolks with the Greek yogurt and mayonnaise.  Add the mustard, relish, paprikas, and salt.  Stir together until smooth.   
• Slice the egg whites into eighths and add to the bowl with the dressing.  Toss to coat the whites completely.  Add the green onions and gently stir to combine.  Serve egg salad on toasted crusty bread and top with additional green onion and sweet paprika.

30-Minute Meal: Chicken & Avocado Quinoa Salad

It's Monday.  Bleh.  The weekend's over, and it's time to dive into the week.  Today the sky is kind of overcast I think to match the mood of the general population.

Let's not get bogged down by dreary weather and wet shoes.  Eating a good meal with bright punches of citrus should cheer anybody up right?  Plus, this is pretty good for you.  Even more reason to feel better!

Don't want to cook a huge meal today?  Don't!  This comes together in about 30 minutes.  20 of those minutes are waiting for the quinoa to cook.  While it cooks, prep the rest of the ingredients and toss it together.  I recommend waiting the other 10 minutes for the flavors to meld together.  In the meantime, fix yourself a drink!