Here is my rant (and purely mine alone). So many times I have tucked into some tasty summer side dishes and been woefully disappointed with the stark contrast of textures that completely derail the whole experience. Why, oh why do so many cooks out there continue to put hard-cooked eggs into what would be very nice, creamy salads only to be faced with nuggets of tasteless rubber?
I speak of two salads in particular, potato and macaroni. With potato salad, if the tatties are cooked properly they will be smooth and creamy with just a little toothsomeness. Too many times the potatoes are overcooked and mushy with a smattering of egg pieces that are as hard as a hockey puck. Nightmare complete on this one.
Now onto macaroni salad. Once again, properly cooked pasta will be al dente but too often the pasta is cooked to mush and enveloped with a rather watery dressing that only precipitates the issue. Add the requisite overcooked egg chunks and voila, disaster is at hand. In addition to the mush, I've had the extra disappointment of dressing that is too sweet. Why add sugar to what would otherwise be a savory dish?
Don't get me wrong, my salads would include the hard-cooked yolks in the dressing for flavor (since they incorporate well into the dressing, but the whites would be relegated to egg salad or turned into an added treat in the dog's food bowl. Be it known, I'm not anti-egg like the Puritanical 'health gurus' who tout that consuming any egg products (including mayonnaise) will surely lead to high cholesterol and a shortened life due to heart attacks.
So taking a passive-aggressive stance, I usually stick with the coleslaw and, if there are no other side options available I will perform surgery on the other salads to remove the rubber bullets without fear of reprisal from the host of the gathering.
If you choose to opine, please be civil and save the profanities for another blog.
