Healthy Deviled Eggs

My husband and I eat a lot of eggs in our house. Sometimes I need to mix up the type/ style of eggs we eat or else I get really sick of them. Eggs are full of different and diverse nutrients and are a great source of protein. So being sick of eggs isn’t something I want to happen. They are, for me, the greatest “fast food”! You can scramble them in a pan quick with some cheese or hard boil them and bring them anywhere. I’ve even been known to have a hard boiled egg or two in my purse. Am I the only one who has done that?

Before I start a recipe with eggs I wanted to preface the quality of the eggs you buy. It’s so important to buy free-range and organic eggs. I know that sometimes they are double the price of conventional eggs. I want you to know that they are totally worth the price and you get way more than double the increase in health benefits. You want to look for organic free-range eggs. 

Why choose organic free-range eggs?

• A higher risk of salmonella is found among conventional eggs vs organic eggs. It is because the chickens are so tightly caged and there are contaminated from infections among the birds and airborne fecal dust. Gross! You want your chickens to have the freedom to run around and have space. 
• There are more nutrients present in organic and free-range eggs. They have more Omega-3 fats, vitamin A, E and beta carotene.
• Organic Free-range hey are also free of antibiotics, which non-organic conventional eggs are not.
• Cage-free is not the same as free-range! That just means that they aren’t in cages, but they can still be raised conventionally and in extremely tight living conditions. It is mostly a fancy marketing word so I wanted to clarify that for you.  
• The best place to get eggs is directly from a farmer. I know that isn’t possible for everyone, but the closer you can get to the farmer the better. For me, if I can’t get them directly from the farm I know a certain brand in the local health co-ops that carry eggs from a well-known and healthy farm. I feel very confident purchasing those eggs.  

Are eggs even healthy?

One of the main concerns brought up with eating eggs are the fat and cholesterol content. If you ask anyone who grew up in the fat-free era (80’s and 90’s) if eggs were healthy you would get a lot of no’s. We had a lot of whole egg alternatives in those days (which some are still around and are options) like Egg Beaters and egg-white only omelets and egg products. But eggs are one of the most perfect foods! Eggs do contain fat (cholesterol) but the good news is that it is the perfect kind of fat that your cells, brain and organs need to be healthy. Your body needs fat, even cholesterol! Good, healthy fats are healing and decrease inflammation. Decreasing inflammation can actually prevent heart attacks, strokes and blood clots. So it was a major mainstream myth that eggs raise your cholesterol and cause heart disease. Go ahead, eat your eggs. And you can have them every day too!  

Now onto the recipe! When I created this recipe for healthy deviled eggs I didn’t want to remove the mayo from the filling. That’s my favorite part! Mayo, in and of itself, isn’t unhealthy. It is that 98% of the mayonnaise that you can buy (organic or not) contains bad inflammatory oils. But there is an option you can get in the mainstream stores. It is called Veganaise. My favorite mayo is their Grapeseed Oil Veganaise (find it here). Make sure that it has a purple top, that means that it is made with grapeseed oil. The other versions contain canola/ soybean oils and aren’t a great option. This product is refrigerated, so make sure to look there and not on the store shelf.

I also want you in on my secret ingredient in deviled eggs. It may not be that secret but it is the secret to a delicious deviled egg. It is a splash of apple cider vinegar. It’s the perfect tang to bring out the flavors of the egg!

 

As you can see, my eggs didn’t peel so well. You win some and you lose some! They don’t look as good, but they still work to make the deviled eggs

 

Ingredients

6 hardboiled eggs, peeled

1/4 cup grapeseed oil Veganaise

1 Tablespoon organic prepared mustard

2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar

1/2 teaspoon salt

paprika, for garnishing the top of the eggs

 

Directions

• Hardboil 6 eggs. I put my eggs in a saucepan and fill with cold water until the tops of the eggs are covered. Turn the stove to high and bring to a boil. Turn the heat off on the stove, keeping the eggs on the burner, and set the timer for 12 minutes. Drain the hot water out of the pan and fill with cold water to stop the eggs from cooking. Once cooled, peel the eggs for the deviled eggs
• Once the eggs are peeled, cut the eggs lengthwise and take the yolk out of the white and put the yolks in a bowl to make the filling. Be careful when cutting the eggs, you want to keep their integrity because you are going need to fill them with the yolk filling. Spread the eggs on a plate or serving dish.
•   In the bowl of egg yolks, add the grapeseed oil veganaise, mustard, apple cider vinegar and salt. Using a fork, mash up the yolks and mix all of the ingredients until combined.
• Using a spoon or pastry bag, fill the egg whites with the yolk filling. Sprinkle with paprika to garnish the top of the eggs.
• Refrigerate and serve cold

Resources

http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/08/24/egg.safety.debate/index.html

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/09/02/why-does-this-commonly-vilified-food-actually-prevent-heart-disease-and-cancer.aspx

http://www.rodale.com/organic-eggs