The thrill of the sandwich

Back in grade school, lunch was a very big deal.

(Um, I guess it still is a big deal.)

A magical thing happened in my sixth grade year:  the addition of the cafeteria sandwich line.

Oh yes- we had TWO choices of what we wanted for lunch.  For a 12-year old, having a choice- nay, a voice- was awesome.  There was also a cool felt sandwich-shaped banner that hung over the sandwich line.
 One sandwich variety that I never got on board with was egg salad.  It just seemed weird.  Eggs?  Goooood.  Sandwiches?  Gooooood.  Eggs-with-mayo-on-a-sandwich?  Blech.

Fortunately tastes and maturity change, and now I'm into egg salad.  Of course I have to modify it though.  In case you aren't sure how to properly make hard boiled eggs, I'll walk you through.

1. Gently place eggs in the bottom of a pot and cover with cold water.  You want the water to be at least an inch higher than the eggs.

2. Put the pot on a burner set to medium-high.  As soon as the water reaches a full raging boil, put a cover on the pot and remove from heat.  Let sit for 12 minutes.  Yes, an oddly specific amount of time.

3. Fill a large bowl with ice water.  Scoop out eggs and place them in the cold water for another 12 minutes.  Refrigerate- ideally overnight, though you could peel them right away.  Older eggs (near their expiration date, or a little past expired, peel easier than fresh).  They will keep for up to a week.

The egg whites cook really quickly, so if you're not into eating the yolk part anyway, you don't have to be super mindful about how long they've been "steaming."

Ok so now onto our egg salad sandwiches.

Avocado Egg Salad
-1/2 avocado, peeled and mashed (it's ok if there's some chunkiness to it though.  Also, if you are lazy, you could just use pre-made guacamole)
-5 hard boiled eggs, peeled
-1/4 cup nonfat plain Greek yogurt
-2 teaspoons lemon juice
-2 teaspoons mustard
-Pinch of salt, pinch of pepper

1. Finely chop your eggs.  I removed most of the yolks and tossed them 'cause I don't really care for them.  You could use all your yolks though.

2. Add avocado, yogurt, mustard, lemon juice, salt, and pepper.

Stir it all up.  It'll turn a pretty green color.  Nothing screams "this egg salad is fresh!" quite like a nice green tinge.  Eat it as is, or put it on bread.  Avocados are high in fat, but the heart-disease-preventing kind of fats.  They take the place of not-so-great-fats from mayo to make this nice and creamy.

Makes 2 super-packed sandwiches, or 3 moderately packed sandwiches (or 4 really stingy sandwiches). 

One of my best pics to date.  Mmm...Ziploc baggies...but it's smart way to eat a sandwich.  Like I want chunks of egg falling into my keyboard while I eat at my desk.

Per serving (assuming 2 servings): 170 calories, 10 g fat, 14 g protein

See?  Lunch can still be a big deal, even if you don't have a school cafeteria sandwich line to prepare it for you.