Egg Salad with Bacon and Basil: Its Not Just for Lunch Anymore

This morning, I was not in the mood for any of my standard breakfasts, which vary from a yogurt and handful of granola to a fried egg on toast. Perhaps it was the fact that I got the most inspiring cookbook in the mail yesterday, Around My French Table, by Dorie Greenspan, and I can't wait to start getting into it (thanks Meg!). No, this recipe isn't from that cookbook or even based on that cookbook, but reading it over coffee this morning definitely made me want to eat something delicious. So I started thinking and quickly came up with this one... and took a picture before I started digging in, because I thought it might be something worth sharing. Turns out I was right. There is a lot of wisdom to the fact that if you add bacon to something, it gets markedly better, and this was no exception. It got put together pretty fast and was definitely better (although not as healthy) as my standard breakfasts usually are.

2 hard boiled eggs, roughly chopped/mashed

2 pieces of cooked bacon, chopped

2 basil leaves, chopped

2 tsp. lemon zest

2 T mayonnaise

Salt and Pepper, to taste

Mix all ingredients well and serve in between slices of toast. Makes two sandwiches.

I think that's the quickest recipe I've ever posted! I didn't exactly measure but I am pretty confident that all the measurements are right -- isn't it funny that everything is in twos? Okay, I admit, I did cook three pieces of bacon and that third piece still managed to make it into my mouth but not into the egg salad.

What I loved about this, simply, was the lemon, basil and bacon. I feel like lemon and mayo should just always be together -- on a sandwich at least. It gives mayo a freshness and zip and I just love. Basil also added a nice freshness -- and I suppose another herb you might have on hand would work great too (parsley, chives, or cilantro would all be nice I would think). And do I even need to explain the bacon thing? Salty, crispy, and so... breakfasty. Makes this egg salad a "breakfast egg salad".

Stay tuned for more recipes from my new cookbook! I am hoping to get into it this weekend and will share whatever I make. I mean, I'll share my experience... not the actual food. That's for me.

Dumpling Soup - A Modest Return to Blogging

Today I attempt a return to blog land by posting about a last minute lunch that turned out to be a good surprise. I can't count the number of times I have a plan in mind for my kids lunch but don't have anything ready for myself. What started out as a lunch where I was almost ready to join in eating kid food ended in enjoying spicy dumpling soup. I had frozen potsickers in the freezer, as well as green onions, cilantro, carrots (which were all a little wilted but who cares when you are making a soup!), and Trader Joe's asian dipping sauce in the fridge. In the pantry I had chicken bullion cubes and srirhacha hot sauce. They combined to make an asian broth with notes of ginger, onion, and heat and a fresh element brought by the grated carrots and chopped cilantro. The potstickers gave the soup some substance and were flavored nicely by the broth.

Last Minute Dumpling Soup

4-6 potstickers, depending on hunger

2-3 c. prepared chicken broth or stock

1 chopped green onion

2 T chopped cilantro

1 carrot, grated

2 T asian dipping sauce (any brand is fine but use one that has ginger in it for best flavor in broth)

Srirhacha to taste

Boil potstickers in hot water according to package directions. My package said to boil until they float to the top, and this only took about 5 minutes. Remove dumplings to large soup bowl, reserving cooking water. Reserve approximate amount of water to make broth and return to boil with the bullion cube/s. (or just dump water and add your stock to pot, if you are using liquid stock). When broth is boiling, add chopped green onion, grated carrot, asian dipping sauce, and chopped cilantro. Allow to heat together for just a minute, and then pour hot broth over dumplings in bowl, making sure to get all the bits of carrot and green herbs into the bowl too. Finish with srirhacha hot sauce and enjoy.

I was not expecting much from my lunch today, but this was so tasty I would happily serve as a starter for dinner or as a lunch with a friend. It was so easy to prepare and came out tasting great!