Author of the 
In this recipe, the first entry in this week’s special Mayo-Free Salad Ideas Recipe Series, we take on gourmet egg salad.
You can serve this as pictured, or you can chop the eggs and mix the dressing throughout. You can serve four guests a one-egg salad as an appetizer, or a two-egg salad for two as something a bit more substantial.
Either way, I must send a shout out to Dr. Suess for his great childrens’ book, Green Eggs and Ham with this silly food poem below.
(You can enjoy more food poems by others here.)
I hope the late Dr. Suess’ will forgive me for this!
Did you ever eat green eggs & ham?
Well, I just did - and glad I am!
I did not share them with our dog,
But I will share them on our blog.
I hope you’ll try this tasty dish,
You might enjoy it with a fish
On bus or train or plane or boat,
Or when you’re riding on a goat.
It gives thumbs down to mayonnaise;
Votes ‘Aye’ on parsley, ‘Nay’ on maize.
On gluten, too, it gives a pass –
Ditto wheat and barley grass.
It does have lots of other goodies
To thrill your family, friends, and foodies,
But when they ask you, “What’s the dressing?”
Just smile and wink and leave them guessing.
Or tell them that it’s made with lamb
& jamb & clamb & candied Spamb.
Or tell the truth; it doesn’t matter,
they’ll still clean bowl or plate or platter.
It’s true! They’ll love green eggs & ham!
Now, are you hungry? Damn, I am!
Here’s how to make the Eggs With Sweet Basil Dressing and Frizzled Prosciutto Over Baby Greens (Our Gourmet Version of Green Eggs and Ham!):
Ingredients:
1/3 cup coarsely chopped parsley leaves
1 small clove garlic, minced
2 Tbsp chopped fresh basil (or 1 Tbsp dried basil)
2 Tbsp red wine vinegar
1/4 cup neutral oil (such as canola or vegetable oil; not olive oil)
1 tsp sugar
Pinch of salt
1/4 lb thinly sliced prosciutto
2 Tbsp olive oil
4 large peeled hardboiled eggs, (see Cook’s Notes)
Mesclun or baby spinach leaves.
PREPARATION:
Pulse the parsley, garlic, and basil in a food processor until finely minced. Add vinegar, oil, sugar, and salt. Process until mixture is as close to smooth as possible.
Cut the prosciutto into thin strips (approx 1/8 - 1/4 inch). Heat the oil in a small saute pan and fry the strips in batches, stirring quickly, until evenly colored. Drain on paper towels.
To plate: Arrange the greens on serving plates. Quarter the eggs and arrange the quarters on top of the greens. Spoon the sweet basil dressing onto the eggs, then top the eggs with the prosciutto. Serves 2
Cook’s Notes:
You can find easy instructions on how to make perfectly hardboiled and easy-to-peel eggs here.
Enjoy!
You Can Read More of Doug’s Recipe Corner Here.
Please join us tomorrow to read our new recipe for Mediterranean Garlic Hummus Potato Salad, as part of this week’s special Mayo-Free Salad Ideas Recipe Series.
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June 9th, 2009 at 10:41 pm
This is just the recipe I like: lots of possibilities as you mention with the hummus. For me, I would only use fresh basil over dried.