A Carb-Free Snack:

Mexican Egg Salad Lettuce Wraps

Eggs are a staple ingredient in my kitchen, mainly due to the fact that we keep chickens, at the bottom of or garden, and as they are nature’s best fast food package – easy to cook and essential for baking. My chickens have been on and off lay over the last few weeks, they are in the middle of moulting, which takes egg laying out of them, but, their new feathers are nearly all back and they are looking very pretty in their new summer livery. With eggs coming into the house again with alarming regularity, I thought it was time to create a new savoury egg recipe for tea the other night.

Today’s recipe is for Egg Salad, that ubiquitous type of salad where chopped hard-boiled eggs are mixed with mayonnaise, which is usually then used in sandwich fillings. Now, I love a good old-fashioned egg salad, and I already share a recipe for a classic English Egg Salad and Cress sandwich filling on Lavender and Lovage…….well, a Egg and Two Cress Sandwich Recipe as it happens…….

……..and as you can see from my photo above, the egg salad filling is made with free-range eggs and two types of cress; mustard and cress and watercress. But, being bereft of cress, at present, and with a couple of half empty (or is that half full?) jars of red pesto and grilled red peppers in the fridge, I decided to pep things up a bit and create a spicy egg salad recipe, perfect for a simple tea and for a low-calorie and low-carb diet day sans bread.

I have an absolute thing about baby gem lettuce lately, I love it in cooked recipes, such as this rather lovely accompaniment recipe for Braised Ruby Baby Gem Lettuce with Spring Onions, Peas, Bacon and Crème Fraîche……

………as well as in simple bread-free wraps, such as this recipe for Crispy Coconut Crepes with Prawns. 

And, my recipe over on the Great British Chef’s website for Lucky Lettuce Wraps – Crispy Duck Parcels, is also hugely popular too.

But, back to today’s recipe for Mexican Egg Salad Lettuce Wraps – these are easy to prepare and if like me, you have some unloved jars of peppers and pesto lurking in the back of your fridge, then why not make a batch of this egg salad – it’s FAB in bread sandwiches as well – perfect for the office or school lunch box as well as picnics.

As well as being easy to make, this recipe is also an ideal candidate for Dom over at Belleau Kitchen’s monthly Simply Eggcellent challenge, where the theme is for “savoury egg” dishes this month. Do try this egg salad recipe out, and let me know what random jars of ingredients you used in your recipe! Karen 

Mexican Egg Salad Lettuce Wraps

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Serves	4
Prep time	15 minutes
Cook time	10 minutes
Total time	25 minutes
Allergy	Egg
Dietary	Vegetarian
Meal type	Appetizer, Salad, Side Dish, Snack, Starter
Misc	Child Friendly, Pre-preparable, Serve Cold
Occasion	Barbecue, Casual Party
Region	American
By author	Karen S Burns-Booth

A tasty change to the usual egg salad, this salad has a bit of a spicy kick to it and is excellent when served in baby gem lettuce leaves as a carb-free wrap. Adjust the seasoning to taste, but do try to use free-range eggs in this recipe.

Ingredients

• 6 free range eggs, hard boiled (shelled and finely chopped)
• 4 grilled red peppers from a jar, drained and finely diced
• 2 large dill pickles, finely diced
• 2 tablespoons red pesto
• 4 to 6 tablespoons mayonniase
• 1 teaspoon hot smoked paprika
• salt and pepper to taste
• baby gem lettuce leaves
• salad ingredients such as tomatoes, sliced red onions and cucumber

Optional

• thin sliced deli ham

Note

A tasty change to the usual egg salad, this salad has a bit of a spicy kick to it and is excellent when served in baby gem lettuce leaves as a carb-free wrap. Adjust the seasoning to taste, but do try to use free-range eggs in this recipe.

Directions

Step 1	Place the chopped hard boiled eggs into a large container with the chopped peppers, dill pickles, red pesto, mayonnaise and smoked paprika. Mix well and then season to taste with salt and pepper.
Step 2	Chill the egg salad for 30 minutes before assembling the lettuce wraps.
Step 3	Arrange the baby gem lettuce leaves on a plate, and place a slice of deli ham in the middle of each leaf, if using. (The ham is optional and can be omitted for vegetarians)
Step 4	Spoon some of the egg salad over the top of the ham and in the middle of the lettuce leaf. Arrange the salad ingredients in and around the lettuce wraps and enjoy immediately.
Step 5	The egg salad can be made 24 hours before it is needed and makes an excellent sandwich filling too. Once made, store in a covered container in the fridge for up to 4 days.