Meatless Mondays: Mayo-less Egg Salad with Pinenuts and Avocado

I had a HUGE craving for deviled eggs Easter weekend but didn't have the time or energy to put into making them, so opted for egg salad instead. When I got ready to make my egg salad I realized I was out of mayonnaise so whipped up a mayo-less egg salad with sour cream instead. It was creamier and definitely healthier - sour cream has about half the fat and calories of mayo. 

I decided to get a little crazy and mix pine nuts in my egg salad since I love them and had them in my cupboard. It added a nice crunch! Then I got even crazier and topped my egg salad english muffin with mashed avocado. It was awesome! Egg salad + pinenuts + avocado = Meatless Monday Magnificence! 

Mayo-less Egg Salad

An Ashley's Cooking Adventures Original

Printable Version

Ingredients

Makes about 4 servings

10 eggs, boiled and peeled

1 cup sour cream

1 cup celery, diced

2 tablespoons dijon mustard

2 tablespoons fresh dill, minced

Several green onions, chopped with white and green parts

Salt and pepper to taste

1/4 cup pine nuts

1 avocado, mashed (if you want to go a little crazy!)

Directions

Place peeled eggs in a large bowl and chop finely with serrated food chopper. 

Scoop in sour cream and mustard and mix until smooth. Add in celery, dill, green onions, and pine nuts. Salt and pepper to taste. 

Refrigerate until ready to serve. Top with mashed avocado and enjoy!

30 Things to Make Before I Turn 30: Giada De Laurentiis' Basil Pesto

This was probably one of the easiest recipes on my list of 30 Things to Make Before 30. All that I had to do in order to create this delectable, homemade sauce was to throw a few ingredients in the food processor and hit pulse. The result is a beautiful green fragrant sauce in less time than it takes to boil the pasta. Next time I am going to try one Giada's pesto variations, either sun dried or mushroom pesto. 

Basil Pesto Sauce

From Giada De Laurentiis

Ingredients

2 cups fresh basil leaves

1/4 cup toasted pine nuts (bake on a cookie sheet at 400 degrees for 5 - 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Be sure to keep an eye on them so they don't burn!)

1 garlic clove

1/2 teaspoon salt, more to taste

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste

2/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

In a blender pulse the basil, pine nuts, garlic, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper until finely chopped. With the blender still running, gradually add in enough oil to form a smooth and thick consistency. Transfer the pesto to a medium bowl and stir in the cheese. Season the pesto with more salt and pepper to taste.

PS Have you bought this cookbook yet?? If you are Italian food lover and you don't have Giada's Everyday Italian, all I have to say is, "Shame."

Chicken Caesar Pizza

In college I worked at an Italian restaurant that made tremendous chicken caesar pizzas. The restaurant bakes these unique pizzas in a wood fired grill with cheese and chicken, then topped  the pizza with a caesar salad. Essentially, it's a very yummy pizza salad! When I brought this pizza home to my college roommates, we gobbled it up like a rare delicacy. Of course in those days when we lived off of instant potatoes and ramen noodles, a hot fresh homemade pizza did seem like a delicacy. Recently I've been craving the chicken caesar pizza from my college days so I set about to make my own version.

I took the easy road and used pizza dough from a box. I also used store bought reduced fat caesar dressing. The best part of this pizza for me is the pinenuts! I toasted them before hand to bring out the nutty and buttery flavor. I also added mushrooms to the pizza, which I don't believe are on the restaurant's chicken caesar pizza. 

Ingredients

Pizza dough

2 chicken breasts

1 package of mushrooms, sliced

olive oil

Fresh Parmesan cheese

2 bunches romaine lettuce

1/4 cup caesar dressing

fresh grated black pepper

1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted to golden brown for 5 minutes at 350 degrees - watch these carefully!

Directions

Grill chicken and slice into bite sized pieces. Form pizza dough and spread out on pan. Drizzle olive oil on the pizza dough. Arrange chicken and mushrooms on the pizza and cover with cheese. Bake at 425 degrees for 20 - 22 minutes, until crust is golden brown. 

While the pizza is baking cut lettuce into bite sized pieces. Mix in dressing and grate shredded cheese over the top. 

Allow pizza to cool for about 5 minutes and top with the caesar salad. Sprinkle pine nuts on the top and season with black pepper to taste. Cut and serve with a fork and knife.