EGG SALAD AND BACON SANDWICHES

I have not always been a fan of egg salad. At one point in my life, not so very long ago, I was a solid egg salad hater. This probably has something to do with growing up in a  house where hard boiled eggs were boiled until the yolks were a grayish color. It might also have something to do with a trip to Las Vegas and watching friends order egg salad at the "New York Deli" to have delivered to our table a dozen eggs trapped in a mountain of mayonnaise and served on soggy white bread. Shudder. Plus, I loath peeling hard boiled eggs. It is my least favorite of all kitchen chores.*

But egg salad has slowly creep up on me. If started with a recipe on Smitten Kitchen where egg salad spread on a piece of crusty bread looked very intriguing. And then I had a deviled egg smashed on toast after Easter. So I thought about it, got myself into the kitchen and started trying different things out. And at home, turns out that egg salad can be rather delicious. I keep my actual salad very simple, but then add a kicker to my sandwich - bacon. Because there is little on this fine earth better than bacon and eggs and a nice piece of toast.

This is a great meal for summer because it requires no oven. You can boil your eggs in the morning, make up your salad, fry up some bacon and toast some bread. Add a green salad and dinner is done.

*I have found a way to make peeling hard boiled eggs less awful. See below.

Egg Salad and Bacon Sandwiches

Ingredients:

6 eggs

1/4 cup of mayonnaise

1 tbsp. yellow mustard

1/2 tsp. coarse salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

1/4 tsp. onion powder

1/4 tsp. cumin

1/2 tsp. herbs de provence (this is available in the spice aisle in grocery stores; you can also use any combination of rosemary, thyme, basil, oregano, savory, and marjoram.)

8 slices of bacon

8 slices good wheat bread

Bring eggs to a boil over high heat. Remove from heat, cover, and let sit for 12 minutes. Drain and immediate emerge in an ice bath (a bowl filled with water and ice). Let sit for 5-10 minutes, drain the water, and peel. Roughly chop eggs. Mix mayonnaise and mustard in to the chopped eggs. Add the salt, pepper, onion powder, cumin, and herbs de provence. Mix well, smashing with a fork, and refrigerate until ready to use. Fry the bacon until crispy and drain on paper towel. Toast the bread, assemble sandwiches. Makes 4 sandwiches.

Enjoy!