Mom's Egg Salad...Sort Of

When I was growing up, my European mother frequently made egg salad. The flavors in her cooking were always mild and refined and the egg salad was no exception. She would never consider just coarsely chopping cooked eggs nor would she add an "exotic" flavorings. She grated her hard cooked eggs on the finest side of the grater, added plenty of mayonnaise, salt and a little pepper. Occasionally she'd add a touch of finely chopped onion but my father and I always seemed to prefer it without and so, plain became the house standard. No one thought much about cholesterol then and the egg salad was a weekend favorite for breakfast and a particular delight at Passover since egg salad and matzo were two flavors meant to be together!

As an adult, I developed a love of cooking and my palate expanded far beyond what I'd had growing up. I still loved egg salad but was too busy for the fussy grating, more aware of health and more interested in developing flavor. So... two hard cooked eggs, throw away one of the yolks (cholesterol, you know), rough chop, add a tablespoon of low-fat mayo, a teaspoon of mustard and a handful of celery, chives, scallions, red onion or whatever happened to be in the veggie crisper at the time. Finish it off with a little salt and pepper, maybe a touch of curry power and pile it on good crusty bread for a delicious lunch.

Until...I met Brian. He hated egg salad, he informed me. The taste? No, he ate eggs every other way. It was the texture of chopped eggs and even the thought made him want to gag. OK, no egg salad for him. But when our first Passover together came around and I stocked up on matzo and began hard cooking eggs, I really wanted him to enjoy the flavor combo I loved so much. I got out the grater.

There's no question that both the taste and texture of the grated eggs is quite different than chopped eggs and yes, it's nicer. Large chunks of celery or onion wouldn't go well with the smooth grated eggs but I still added lots of flavorings my mother didn't. So... did I turn Brian into an egg salad convert?Yup :)

Ingredients
6 Large eggs
1/2 Cup low-fat mayonnaise
1 Tablespoon mustard
1/4 Teaspoon curry powder
Large handful of scallions, chipped
Salt & pepper to taste

Hard cook the eggs for about 10 minutes in boiling water. Drain and run under cold water until eggs can be handled. Peel and refrigerate for 10 - 15 minutes.

In a separate bowl, combine the mayo, mustard, curry and scallions. When eggs are cool, finely grate them into a bowl, add the dressing and season to taste. Makes approximately 4 servings.