When I was a teeny bopper, I lived in a small town that I looked forward to going to Fresno for a few weeks each summer to visit my aunt and uncle. You see, besides acting as the home of my fabulously fun aunt, Fresno had Ross, Marshalls, and Safeway, while Atascadero had only K-Mart and Food-For-Less. And I always ate this Healthy Mexican-Style Egg Salad back then.
While visiting, my aunt would take me on bargain-shopping sprees at Marshall’s and put me to work at my uncle’s doctor’s office. And every day around 11:30 a.m., it was time to order lunch from the deli around the corner. I could have any sandwich I wanted. It was incredible. It was decadent to a twelve-year-old whose limited world experience told her that eating a sandwich not prepared at home but rather prepared professionally at a deli was just plain fancy.
But I always chose Mexican-Style Egg Salad. Something about that deli’s Healthy Mexican-Style Egg Salad was truly transcendent compared to a ho-hum turkey sandwich, and I wasn’t yet adventurous enough to appreciate an Italian sandwich. So, being a loyal gal (and a big fan of mushy foods), I stuck with the reliable egg salad.
While I still enjoy a good egg salad, it hasn’t been the same for me since discovering how much mayonnaise goes into it. And frankly, after about two bites, the standard egg-mayo mash-up is rather bland for my ever-so-slightly more refined adult taste. But eggs are cheap to buy and easy to boil, so I decided to fix the standard egg salad a bit.
To make the egg salad a little more figure-friendly for those of us who could quickly eat it daily, I abandoned the glops of mayo, using Greek yogurt instead. The creamy, lush thickness of Greek yogurt made the egg salad seem more decadent, even though it was healthier. In other words, Mr Mayo was not missed.
Because I also wanted to make the flavour in this Mexican-Style Egg Salad to be more exciting and pronounced (I had leftover homemade pico de gallo sitting in the fridge, staring at me the past two days with sad puppy-dog eyes), I decided to add some Mexican flair. A bit of cumin, a healthy and heaping spoon of salsa, and a pinch or two of salt and pepper pepped this egg salad right up and gave it a slightly chunky texture. I finally had a Mexican-Style Egg Saladworth finishing, covered with avocado slices lightly sprinkled with salt.
Healthy Mexican-Style Egg Salad
Ingredients
- 4 medium eggs hard-boiled and chilled
- ⅓ cup Greek yogurt
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- ½ cup pico de gallo
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 1 medium avocado sliced
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, mix eggs, yogurt, cumin, and 1/4 cup of pico de gallo until egg yolks have broken up a bit and pico de gallo is evenly distributed. Add salt and pepper to taste. If desired, add more pico de gallo, but beware that it will thin out the egg salad.
- Serve egg salad by itself, on a bed of lettuce or a slice of bread, and top with sliced avocado and an additional pinch of salt. Egg salad will keep for 3 to 5 days in a refrigerated, airtight container.