Have you heard this phrase before? “Eggs, AGAIN? Can’t we have something else?”
Unless you’re allergic, you can end up eating a lot of nutritious eggs — on GAPS especially, but even following a traditional food diet. Fixed the same way, time and time again, lots of people get tired of them, even sickened at the thought of eating any more.
We can’t have that, can we?
With that in mind, I asked fellow bloggers and GAPS series contributing writers Katy and Mindy to help me compile a whole bunch of egg dishes to beat the egg-boredom-blues. You won’t be sick of eggs ever again!
(Of course, we’re talking about healthy, pastured eggs and preferably from chickens not fed GMO corn or soy.)
Katy’s Ideas
Frittata. One of my favorite ways to eat eggs, this is a one-skillet meal that’s also a great way to use up leftovers. Just saute (or reheat) vegetables in a skillet, add any leftover meat or fish (if desired), pour in some beaten eggs until they just set, and finish it off under the broiler. Here is a full recipe (omit the cream cheese or sub with 24-hour yogurt cheese for GAPS).
The 5-Minute Egg. I became addicted to these after starting the GAPS diet. It was the perfect way to get a still-runny yolk but also have a change from a regular fried egg, and very hands-off. These soft-boiled eggs are wonderful on salads, or as a topping for just about any entree — beef, chicken, almost anything tastes great with a poached egg on top! I also spent lots of lunches this spring over a plate of Marinated Asparagus with a 5-Minute Egg. (pictured above)
Raw Yolks in Smoothies and Soups. This is my sure-fire way of getting at least one raw pastured egg yolk every day. In summer months I throw a carefully-separated yolk into my smoothie, and in winter months I whisk a yolk into my morning cup of broth.
Put an Egg On It! My lunch on most days ends up being reheated leftovers with a fried egg plopped on top. I’ve discovered that just about anything tastes great with an egg on it!
Let’s Hear from Mindy
You can’t go wrong with any of these egg dishes and uses:
- Fried or scrambled eggs served with sauteed onions and chard
- Chile Relleno Egg Casserole (pictured above)
- Grain-free Dutch baby pancake
- Egg scramble: Scrambled eggs, bacon or ground sausage, veggies, and cheese mixed in
- Eggs Benedict served on grain-free bread
- Poached eggs
- Soft boiled eggs (I had never tried these before GAPS — they are so good!)
- Hard boiled eggs – they make an easy, portable snack (and are very good topped with sea salt)
- Egg yolk uses (extremely easy to digest and very nutritious) — add to broth and soups or coconut milk ice cream; use to make custard or homemade mayo
- Egg white use (after using up all of those eggs yolks!) — GAPS Macaroons
What helps me the most for variety is to change up the vegetables and meat that I’m serving with my eggs. Here are a few of my favorite combinations:
- Slightly warmed cherry tomatoes and green chiles with bacon
- Sauteed onions & chard (see link above) with sausage
- Sauteed onions and mushrooms with either type of meat
- Steamed broccoli with butter
- Sauteed zucchini with fresh basil
And Some of My Ideas, Too…
Egg Salad. I love egg salad, especially for lunch and dinner. Use homemade mayo and an aged raw cheddar. Mmm….
Quiche. This is a general quiche formula – feel free to use whatever local, seasonal veggies, or cheese you have on hand. Also, other herbs are very good, too!
Baked Sausage and Egg Omelet. This baked omelet is a non-GAPS recipe. However, you can omit the potatoes completely or substitute veggies instead. I think baked slices of squash in place of the potatoes are wonderful.
6-Minute Egg. Much like Katy’s 5-Minute egg or Mindy’s soft-boiled, we prefer a 6-minute egg around here. Mash them up in a bowl with a little cultured butter, mayo, sea salt, pepper, and crushed garlic.
Hard-Boiled Eggs on Salads. When we have an abundance of eggs, I hard-boil a bunch and peel them. Keep them in the fridge. Then I chop or slice them and put on top of salads.
It’s Your Turn!
How do YOU mix it up with eggs? How do you keep the family loving their egg dishes while on GAPS (or even on a “normal” traditional diet)? Please share!
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Wardeh, this is perfect timing, because we try to eat eggs every morning for breakfast, but do actually get almost physically ill with the thought of eating more eggs in the morning.
Especially after we cracked a pastured egg that was black – rotten – it was VERY hard for us to eat eggs for a few weeks. The memory of the awful smell that filled our home was absolutely horrible, as you could imagine!
Looking forward to trying a few of these recipes! Some of them won’t be as easy as making a fried egg or boiled egg, but I’m ready to try some new recipes and ideas for breakfast!
To prevent such a disturbing event in the future, there is a simple test that will determine when an egg has gone bad before you crack it. Fill a glass or bowl with water, enough that the egg can float. Drop the egg gently into the water. A good, fresh egg will sink to the bottom. A good but not so fresh egg will stand on end at the bottom, and a bad egg will either float on the surface or suspend somewhere in the water. If it doesn’t stay touching the bottom, it isn’t good to eat. The other issue with eggs is potentially getting one that has already been fertilized and contains a baby chick. Check for these eggs by holding it up to a strong light in a dim room, the light will pass through the shell and project a shadow of what is inside, anything but a round yolk is suspicious. As always, crack your eggs into a separate bowl, one at a time, to make sure you don’t contaminate your recipe with eggshell or a bad egg.
Souffle! Baked custard–I make mine with 2 C. milk, heated; 3 eggs; some honey to taste; dash of salt; pour into custard cups, sprinkle with freshly grated nutmeg, put cups in a pan and add 1/2″ of hot water to pan, bake 350º for 25 min or until tops dome. Cool on a wire rack, then refrigerate.
I didn’t see pickled eggs listed.
Al
I have gotten hooked on hard boiled eggs. I eat between 2-4 of them every day. For a change up, I make an egg salad sandwich and instead of adding pickle, I add some raw homemade fermented saur kraut. Sounds weird. Maybe to some it sounds gross. But, it gives the right amount of sour, zing, and kick. A couple of spoonfuls per 2 eggs. Yum!
A lunch I love to throw together is a few cups of broccoli florets and tossed with a bit of olive oil, a few grinds of salt and pepper, and some smoked paprika and then roasting them in the oven (usually takes about 10 minutes or so). While the broccoli is roasting I poach myself an egg to put on top of the roasted veggies. Delicious and nutritious!
Thanks for sharing!
Going to go make the “5-minute egg” right now! Bring on breakfast.
We are huge egg fans here and I have gotten addicted to eggs in a cup. I add all kinds of ingredients to it and they are so good. It is like having a different breakfast every day 🙂
Fried eggs on top of baby arugula, lightly sauteed in coconut or olive oil with a little garlic, salt and pepper.
I love a variation on the recipe for “Midnight Eggs” I first heard about on The Splendid Table podcast:
1 Tbsp cooking fat (I use ghee or coconut oil, but I’m sure bacon fat would work, too. Butter can burn.
1 Tbsp finely chopped onion (I chop a lot at the beginning of each week and store it in a glass jar for use all week).
1 cup of fresh spinach leaves, washed, dried, and trimmed
Other veggies to taste (I use up leftovers, but asparagus and zucchini are my favorites)
2 pastured eggs.
Salt and pepper to taste
Preheat the broiler. While it’s preheating I crack the eggs into a bowl so that they both go in the hot pan at the same time and cook evenly.
Preheat an ovenproof frying pan in the broiler for about 1 minute. Add the cooking fat and alow it to heat up. Add the onion, and any other firm veggies (but not the spinach). Lightly salt and pepper and return to the broiler for 1 minute. The onion should be soft and fragrant.
Add the spinach and toss it with the other ingredients. Put the pan back under the broiler for one minute.
Remove the pan from the broiler and push all the veggies around the sides, making a “frame” for the eggs. Drop the eggs into the pan in the center, and return the pan to the broiler for 1 minute. You may want your eggs a little firmer, but watch CAREFULLY as the pan is now very hot and cooks quickly.
Slide the food out onto a plate. I like to serve it with fresh homegrown spourts (broccoli or sunflower) and some slices of ripe avocado.
Serves 1
Love all the ideas. My husand started working on the egg farm so we have eggs all the time. I love new ideas! I am going to try egg cheese here in a little bit. I saw a recipe a few days ago I have yet to try it, but it looks interesting. I have included the address to where I found that recipe below. come see me at http://www.lifelesshurried.com I will probably write about our egg cheese adventures soon. Thanks for more inspiration to try new ways of egg cooking. I will have to try some of the other sugestions also.
http://homemaidexpressions.blogspot.com/2012/06/egg-cheese.html
I didn’t see a mention (I may have missed it?) of DEVILED EGGS. Oh. My. Goodness! My family demands them for every holiday (ESPECIALLY Christmas, which is so “that’s not when the chickens are laying,” but I love my family, and have a good source for winter eggs), and sometimes when I’ve boiled up a bunch more eggs than I’m going to be able to use for egg salad, I’ll peel up the rest and make deviled eggs, and they won’t stay around long at all. They’re also a quick grab while getting ready before heading out the door, so become breakfast for just about the whole house when there’s a plate of them in the fridge!
Double-whammy on the fermented stuff here, when using fermented mayo, mustard, and raw apple cider vinegar, too. We’re not on GAPS, so I’m not sure what’s allowed… A little raw kraut on an egg salad sandwich (we serve ours open-faced) is a knock right out of the park on flavor and changing it up.
YUM, and thanks for all the ideas! I think at 6,000 feet, I might try a 7- or 8-minute egg–it sounds delish! 🙂
Wardeh, I can’t remember what it’s called, but that cake that consists basically of eggs, butter, honey and cocoa is really good…not sure if it’s GAPS friendly or not. I need to keep up my protein especially during pregnancy and I turn to that when I am just tired of the usual egg recipes. I also thought of the pickled or mustard eggs.
Excellent info as usual! I LOVE your site!!
I want to try the The Chile Relleno Egg Casserole, but the link won’t work for me.
Help please?