Ideas for All Those Hard-Cooked Eggs

After the Easter egg hunt comes that formidable question, “What to do with all the leftover eggs?� The children usually won’t eat them after the excitement of the hunt has passed. And even brown-baggers can tolerate only so much egg salad for lunch.

Here are a few creative uses for hard-cooked eggs. Greek Salad Souffle Roll is a jellyroll-shaped spongecake filled with a Greek salad of vegetables, feta cheese, black olives and hard-cooked eggs. A creamy, dill-flavored sauce is spooned over.

Mexican-inspired Egg Taco Salad and Tortilla Stack both combine familiar Mexican ingredients like tortillas, cheese and olives, but in two distinctly different ways. The salad contains hard-cooked eggs, crumbled bacon and a robust salad dressing. Tortilla Stack is a variation on the egg salad sandwich theme. It utilizes flour tortillas as the bread, but rather than rolling the filling in the tortillas, it is layered to form a stack that can be cut into wedges. Both dishes are spiked with taco seasoning mix.

When included as part of a sensible diet, these recipes can be enjoyed without fears of accelerating the blood cholesterol level, which ranks high on today’s list of risk factors for coronary heart disease.

If, however, dietary cholesterol is of concern, see your doctor before including any of these recipes in your diet regimen. Most restrictive diets require dietary cholesterol intake be limited to 300 milligrams per day, and the majority of the recipes provided here meet that requirement. Figures for cholesterol are included for comparison.

GREEK SALAD SOUFFLE ROLL

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1/2 cup sour cream

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 teaspoon dill weed

1 teaspoon butter

6 eggs, separated

3/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup flour

3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

Greek Salad Filling

12 lettuce leaves

Blend together mayonnaise, sour cream, lemon juice and dill until smooth. Cover and chill to blend flavors.

Lightly grease 15 1/2x10 1/2-inch jellyroll pan. Line bottom with wax paper and grease again, using 1 teaspoon butter.

Beat egg whites with cream of tartar at high speed of electric mixer until stiff but not dry. Beat yolks and salt in small mixer bowl until thick and lemon colored. Pour yolks over whites and sprinkle with flour. Gently, but thoroughly, fold yolks and flour into whites. Pour into prepared pan, spreading batter evenly. Bake at 400 degrees until top of sponge roll springs back when lightly touched with finger, 9 to 11 minutes.

Dust clean tea towel or paper towels with Parmesan. Loosen sponge roll from sides of pan and invert onto prepared towel. Carefully pull wax paper off bottom of roll. Trim all edges. Starting from short edge, roll up sponge roll, rolling towel in with roll. Place wrapped roll, seam-side down, on wire rack until cool, about 30 minutes.

Prepare Greek Salad Filling. Carefully unroll sponge roll. Remove towel, spread sponge roll evenly with filling and re-roll. Place, seam-side down, on serving platter. Cover with plastic and refrigerate until chilled, several hours or overnight.

To serve, cut 12 slices about 3/4-inch thick. Arrange each slice on serving plate lined with lettuce leaf. Spoon 1 1/2 tablespoons chilled mayonnaise mixture over. Makes 12 servings.

Greek Salad Filling

4 hard-cooked eggs, chopped

2 cups chopped romaine

1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese

1/2 cup chopped tomato

1/3 cup sliced, drained black olives

1/4 cup chopped green onions

3 tablespoons oil

3 tablespoons red wine vinegar

1/4 teaspoon oregano

1/8 teaspoon black pepper

Toss together eggs, romaine, cheese, tomato, olives and green onions until evenly combined. Blend together oil, vinegar, oregano and pepper and pour over salad filling. Toss until vegetables are evenly coated.

PER SERVING: 233 calories; 8 gm protein; 7 gm carbohydrate; 20 gm fat; 227 mg cholesterol; 249 mg sodium; 139 mg potassium.

USRDA

Protein 12% Riboflavin 11% Vitamin A 18% Niacin 02% Vitamin C 09% Calcium 09% Thiamine 06% Iron 09%

EGG-TACO SALAD

4 hard-cooked eggs

4 cups torn salad greens

1/4 cup chopped onion

4 teaspoons taco seasoning mix

4 slices bacon, fried crisp and crumbled

2 medium tomatoes, chopped

1/4 cup sliced black olives

1/2 cup Italian salad dressing

1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

1/2 cup tortilla chips

Parsley sprigs

Cut 1 egg into 4 wedges and reserve for garnish.

Chop remaining 3 eggs. On 4 individual salad plates or in 1 1/2-quart serving dish, layer salad greens, onion, chopped eggs, taco seasoning, bacon, tomatoes and olives. Cover and chill several hours or overnight. To serve, top with dressing and cheese. Garnish with tortilla chips, reserved egg wedges and parsley. Makes 4 servings.

PER SERVING: 484 calories; 18 gm protein; 16 gm carbohydrate; 39 gm fat; 292 mg cholesterol; 1,363 mg sodium; 432 mg potassium.

USRDA

Protein 28% Riboflavin 21% Vitamin A 42% Niacin 06% Vitamin C 33% Calcium 29% Thiamine 11% Iron 19%

TORTILLA STACK

1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, room temperature

1 (1-pound) can whole kernel corn, well drained

2 tablespoons taco seasoning mix

3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1/2 teaspoon salt

12 hard-cooked eggs, chopped

12 (8-inch) flour tortillas

1 small bunch leaf lettuce

12 cherry tomatoes

Combine cream cheese, drained corn and taco seasoning mix in mixing bowl. Mix with rubber spatula until well blended. Set aside.

Combine cilantro, mayonnaise and salt in another bowl. Stir to blend. Add chopped eggs and stir again until well blended. Set aside.

Place 2 tortillas on baking sheet, overlapping to form circle. Evenly spread 1/3 of egg mixture over tortillas. Top with 2 tortillas and half of corn mixture. Top with 2 more tortillas, 1/3 of egg mixture, 2 tortillas, remaining half of corn mixture, 2 tortillas, remaining 1/3 of egg mixture and remaining 2 tortillas.

Refrigerate, covered, at least 4 hours or overnight to allow flavors to develop. Remove from refrigerator at least 30 minutes before serving. Place on serving platter lined with lettuce. Garnish with tomatoes. Cut into wedges to serve. Makes 6 servings.

PER SERVING: 727 calories; 25 gm protein; 60 gm carbohydrate; 45 gm fat; 565 mg cholesterol; 1,160 mg sodium; 471 mg potassium.

USRDA

Protein 38% Riboflavin 37% Vitamin A 61% Niacin 17% Vitamin C 39% Calcium 20% Thiamine 13% Iron 34%