When I was a child my grandmother tried to get me to eat her god-awful idea of egg salad.  This consisted of the following; hard-boiled eggs, lots of mayonnaise, French’s mustard, and relish.  That was placed between two slices of white bread.  Sound yummy?

For some reason, one day this summer I woke up and decided to try making an egg salad sandwich for myself.  I began by looking for eggs at the San Francisco Ferry Building’s farmers market. I was looking for a thick bright-yellow, free-range egg with strong flavor. The people at the Judy’s Farm booth suggested I use eggs that were produced by hens that live with roosters.  Apparently the roosters chase them around all day causing them to consume more calories, which gives you a heartier egg.

I really wanted to keep this recipe simple, so I decided to use only four other ingredients to bring out the true beauty of this sandwich; tarragon, chives, celery, and mayonnaise. Mayonnaise works best as a binding agent, not as a primary flavor so use it sparingly.

Eggs are one of the only foods that naturally produce vitamin D (4% of RDA), and the benefits don’t stop there. Each egg is 75 kcals with 5g of fat (1.5g saturated fat), 1g of carbs, and 6g of protein. They are also high in choline (brain food), lutein, and zeaxanthin (helps prevent age-related macular degeneration).

- Kevin M. Eisele

INGREDIENTS:

• 6 eggs
• 2-3 tablespoons mayonnaise
• 4 tablespoons fresh cut tarragon
• ½ bunch fresh cut chives
• 2 celery stalks
• Butter lettuce
• Squeeze of lemon
• Salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste
• 6 slices whole wheat bread (toasted)

DIRECTIONS:

Put eggs in a large pot and cover with cold water by about 1 inch. Once the water starts to boil, remove from heat and cover for 7 minutes. Remove eggs from hot water and place into a bowl of ice water, let them sit there for about 15 minutes, remove then refrigerate.

Very fresh eggs are extremely hard to peel.  Peel the eggs, place them in a medium bowl, and smash with a fork. Don’t smash them too much as texture is very important. Fold in the mayonnaise, lemon juice, salt and pepper, then add the tarragon, celery, and chives, fold everything together, and taste.  Adjust for seasoning and moisture.

Place toasted bread on a plate, add lettuce and then build your sandwich based on your hunger.

P.S. I recently made this sandwich with a thin slice of fontina cheese and highly recommend it.