Egg Salad + Tomato Jam Sandwich

I have always admired those who plan out the whole week’s menu in advance for their families. I have never done that nor will I ever do that. I’m too much of a procrastinator and not enough of a planner. And besides, what if I don’t feel like eating pasta on Thursday night but have to because I had it planned out on Sunday morning? Now, I totally understand that it will make your life so much easier throughout the week, especially if you have a big family. And I’m sure I’ll have to resort to that tactic if I ever end up with a big family. But I don’t have a big family (yet). And maybe God has designed it that way because he knew I could never become a meal planner 🙂

Prime example was tonight. I didn’t think about what to make until an hour before dinner. I knew what my son wanted…mac n cheese out of the box (yes!) so I didn’t need to worry about his dinner. I know, I know, I said he was a food snob but he loves the mac and cheese out of the box better than made from scratch. I would like to think that it was God, through his mercy, who instilled in my son his love for boxed cheesy starchy goodness.  Whatever it might be, I’ll take it. I should feel guilty for feeding him a meal out of a box but I don’t, really!

As for myself, I wanted something simple and light. So I opened the fridge and saw the eggs. I looked on my counter and saw some cherry tomatoes. So I decided on egg salad with tomato jam, something I haven’t made in a long time. It may sound like a weird combination but it really is good. It’s a simple meal that you can make ahead, if you’re a planner, but it’s also something you can make in 30 minutes, if you’re a procrastinator, like me.

Tomato Jam

This is a quick tomato jam. Some recipe calls it to cook for a long time but mine takes about 20 minutes. Yields about 1 cup.

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 tablespoon shallots, chopped

1 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes

1 tablespoon sugar

1/8 teaspoon chili flakes

pinch salt

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1 teaspoon mint, chopped

Directions:

Heat the olive oil on low heat. Add shallots and cook until translucent about 3 minutes. Add tomatoes, sugar, chili flakes, salt, and lemon juice. Cook the mixture, on low heat, stirring occasionally until the tomatoes start to pop and cook down, about 20 minutes. Add the mint. Turn off heat.

While the tomatoes are cooking, I make the egg salad.

Egg Salad:

You can make it any way you want, or even buy it! Most people have their own favorite recipe but here is mine.

5 hard boiled eggs, chopped (start cooking the eggs before the jam so it was time to cool)

3/4 cup celery, diced small

2 tablespoon capers (I leave them whole but you can chop them)

2 tablespoon green onion, sliced

2 tablespoon parsley, chopped

1 tablespoon dill, chopped

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1/4 cup mayo

1/4 teaspoon salt

black pepper

Directions:

Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Set it aside.

Assembly:

Now you can do many things with these two dishes:

-make an open-faced sandwich on a toasted bread (like I did which I also sprinkled with some sunflower seeds)

-roll it up in a tortilla

-serve it as a hor d’oeuvre on toasted crostini for parties

-use as topping on bed of greens (top with some fried shallots! Yum!)

So many possibilities. Only limited by your imagination.