Curried Deviled Eggs

Pretty Leftovers

Everyone loves those beautiful colored eggs that decorate the Easter holiday. They are so pretty nestled into baskets, topping sweet breads and dressing up the table. It is hard to resist dying a dozen or more to celebrate the season. Once Easter morning is past, however, it is always a challenge to think of how to use up the leftover hard-boiled eggs.

My family loves Deviled Eggs.  Unfortunately in their traditional composition I don’t.  My aversion to a prominent ingredient in this simple down-home staple is lastingly ingrained.

But I do think Deviled Eggs are pretty.  I fondly remember my Dad asking me to dress his Deviled Eggs with a pretty dusting of paprika some holiday long past. I loved the way the crimson spice drifted across the yellow and white as I gently shook the spice jar.

Trying Something New

This year, taking inventory of the hard-boiled eggs in my kitchen, I decided it was time that I turned over a new leaf and found a recipe for some Deviled Eggs of my own. Besides I saw some cute little Deviled Egg Chicks on Facebook and, overwhelmed with an appreciation for cute foods as I often am this time of year, I wanted to try making them myself.

I considered using mayonnaise, even found a small jar of the stuff, but as I persistently put off opening it I had another idea.  I decided to substitute an ingredient I do have some appreciation for – Nonfat Greek Yogurt.

This recipe is based on one I found on the Oikos Greek Yogurt website; The curry powder and Tabasco sauce add a nice spark of sophisticated spice. And, for those of you who do appreciate mayonnaise, substituting it for the plain Greek yogurt should work fine too.

Curried Deviled Eggs

adapted from www.oikosyogurt.com

8 hard boiled eggs

¼ cup plain Greek yogurt

1 tsp Dijon mustard

½ teaspoon curry powder (I used madras hot curry powder)

1/8 teaspoon hot sauce (I used Tabasco)

pinch of salt

paprika, for garnish

To hard-boil eggs: Place eggs in a large pot.  Cover eggs with water.  Place pot over medium high heat and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat until only very small bubbles are coming up from the bottom of the pan.  Cover pot and continue to cook at a low simmer for 10 – 15 minutes.

Remove from heat, drain water and fill pot with cold water.  Change the water several times to cool the eggs. Refrigerate until ready to use.

To make Deviled Eggs:

Peel 8 hard-boiled eggs.  Cut eggs in half length-wise. Carefully remove the egg yolks leaving the whites intact.

Place yolks in a small mixing bowl.  Mash with a fork. Add the Greek yogurt, mustard, curry powder, hot sauce and salt. Mix with a fork until smooth.

Fill the cavity in the egg whites with the yolk mixture, mounding it up above the top surface. (You can fill the egg whites by scooping the yolk mixture into a Ziploc bag, sealing the top and cutting a lower corner from the bag to pipe the mixture through.  Or you can just use a spoon to scoop the yolk mixture into the eggs whites.)

Dust tops of filled eggs with paprika and arrange the eggs on a serving plate.

To make Deviled Egg Chicks:

Instead of paprika, for garnish you will need

Carrots

Cracked black peppercorns or black olives

Cut several ¼-inch slices crosswise from the wide end of a carrot.  Cut small wedges from the slices to use as beaks.

Dice black olive slices into tiny bits to use for eyes or lightly crack black peppercorns and use those pieces for eyes.

Peel hard-boiled eggs.  Slice across top third of the egg. Carefully remove the yolks from the egg whites, breaking up and scooping the yolk out in pieces if necessary to leave the egg white outer hull intact.

Mix the egg yolks with the Greek yogurt, mustard, curry powder, hot sauce and salt as directed above.

Fill the lower 2/3 of the egg white hull with the egg yolk mixture, mounding it up above the top surface as directed above.

Place the top 1/3 of the egg white on top, angling it back to give the look of an emerging chick.  Stud the front surface of the visible yolk mixture with a carrot beak and bits of black olive or cracked black peppercorns for eyes.  Set the eggs upright in a clean egg carton or in egg cups.

Or create some variation of your own….

Serve and enjoy!