Which came first? We'll never know.

Even I cannot believe I am telling you this but we had two kinds of salads for sandwiches at lunch yesterday.

Sometimes I just like to talk about food. Even though as I often say, this is not a recipe blog.

I was sitting right there in the pew in church when I got the hankering for egg salad.

I love egg salad and besides, I was hungry.

As it happened I had already hard-boiled a number of eggs and they were waiting, all peeled, in the refrigerator.

Oh and by the way it's true what they say on Pinterest: if you put a half teaspoon of baking soda into the boiling water with the eggs, they practically jump out of their shells. When it's over, I mean. After they're cooked.

I also had a large can of white chicken. I realize it's the lazy way but almost as much as I love egg salad, I love chicken salad made from canned chicken.

After I'd thought of egg salad and that can of chicken, I couldn't decide whether I wanted egg salad or chicken salad.

I looked down at my Bible -- and yes, I was listening to the message -- but even without spiritual guidance I knew that when it comes to chickens and eggs, one wouldn't exist without the other. And vice versa.

So I settled on having both.

We already had two kinds of good healthy bread in the pantry, and a few bags of chips. And it was very warm outside which as you know is the kind of weather that calls for a light refreshing lunch.

So when I got home, after I'd comforted Javier -- who suffers from acute separation anxiety -- and changed clothes, I opened up that can of chicken and raided the fridge.

To the chicken I added some red onion, for bite.

And some banana pepper rings, for zing.

And some celery for crunch, and I forgot to take a picture of that but you know what celery looks like.

Then I added a generous dollop of Mrs. Campbell's All Natural Sweet Chow Chow Home-Style Southern Relish, a/k/a The Great American Put-On. I sure hope they have that at your store.

I chopped up the hard-boiled eggs and put some in with the chicken and some in a bowl by themselves.

Into the bowl containing only diced hard-boiled eggs I introduced the triumvirate of French's Classic Yellow mustard, sweet pickle relish, and lemon pepper.

Lemon pepper and coarse kosher salt and coarse-ground black pepper are three substances without which I would not care to either cook or eat.

Oh and Tony Chachere's creole seasoning -- cherished by millions who cannot pronounce it but must have it -- is also a sine qua non of Jenny Cuisine. Or Zatarain's, if I have some, which I do. But I do not add those to these salads.

Then I dosed each of the two bowls with that absolute non-negotiable -- in my kitchen, anyway: Duke's Mayonnaise.

And the result was whee-doggie good.

The picture isn't fancy but I promise you, if you'd been here you would've enjoyed sharing a sammich with me and TG.

Oh and guess what we had to drink?

We shared a smoothie. One that contained both peanut butter and spinach.

I know. That sounds weird. I got the recipe from Pinterest.

Audrey does not like the peanut butter part but Erica does -- we all make these at our respective domiciles -- and I do, and TG said he liked it too but he'd like to taste it without peanut butter.

?????

At any rate what this smoothie contains is one cup of milk, one frozen banana, one teaspoon of peanut butter -- crunchy or smooth, whichever you have on hand -- and a half-cup of Chobani zero-percent vanilla yogurt.

And spinach. All the baby spinach leaves you care to cram into it.

I also added a handful of raw oatmeal.

And no TG and I are not turning into a couple of hippies -- there were no bean sprouts in sight, and no tofu, no Ravi Shankar music -- but that was a good lunch.

Fresh, cool, and flavorful, and relatively healthy. Except for those chips. 

And until we ate Girl Scout Lemonades for dessert, and may have had soda pop with those.

But then I do have my morale to keep up.

After lunch I made a "pretty" for my friend Sandra at church, and yes it involved sparkly beads.

And I wrapped it thusly ...

... which is another idea I got from Pinterest. Do you think it's cute? Or goofy? Feel free to be honest. And no, I did not put an egg salad sammy down in that lunch sack.

That is all for now.

Except, how do you make egg salad in your kitchen? Does anything go into the bowl besides eggs, pickle relish, salt, pepper (maybe lemon pepper), a spritz of mustard, and smooth creamy mayonnaise? Do tell.

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Happy Monday ~ Happy Week

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Comments

[irene]

Oh my gosh, you put so much stuff into your salads, my family would be picking them out for sure. But I'm going to try to sneak some in. My husband complains about celery, let alone everything else you've put in. The chow chow sounds awesome.

[Mari]

Sounds like a wonderful lunch! The chow chow sounds so good, but we don't have that or Dukes around here.
I have a recipe for chicken salad that includes your ingredients, plus celery and some bacon. Now I need to make some salads too.
I think your sack wrap is adorable!

[Jennifer]

@Irene ... girl if you think that's a lot, you should see what all I put on a pizza. I take the store-bought ones, then jack them up to the moon. Have to be eaten with a fork.

@Mari ... Well I do already put celery in my chicken salad, just not in the egg salad ... also I like to add green apple and walnuts (to chicken salad) when I'm feeling extra rustic, and red grapes for elegance ... but wowza, BACON in chicken salad? I better not mention that ingredient to TG or he'll be clamoring for it. Sounds incredible. Can we figure out how to get beef critter in too?

[Donna (Texas)]

I Swear! When I scrolled slowly past the picture of the salad, I could literally SMELL it....Hahahaaa...
Hubby doesn't really care for mayonnaise but I Love it. It's been Years since I've had an egg salad sandwich!
hughugs

[Debbie]

I love egg salad too. I remember when I was a kid my mother would make it for me for lunch. On days I stayed in the classroom working on the school paper, I would have a big egg salad sandwich and chocolate milk, yum yum

[Sue the Hobbit]

Hmmmm, looks like a recipe to me! But your photography kills any of the efforts made by those of us who post recipes frequently. I shall take notes.

[Tony Funderburk]

I just ran across this post of yours, and thanks a lot, Jenny. Now I'm hungry for
an egg an onion sandwich. I wasn't hungry at all, but you couldn't leave well enough
alone. Oh no...you had to put all the ingredients in one place...and add sumptuous
high definition photos. Is there no sense of mercy in you? Do you not care about your
fellow man who needs to move around more and insert calories less?

(seriously...loved the tale...as always)

[Jennifer]

Dear Tony, haaaaaa go have a sandwich. And happy Memorial Day to you.

[Tony Funderburk]

Alright...mission accomplished and sandwich is history. Hope your holiday weekend was happy, safe, and healthy.