The nutrients in eggs are varied and plentiful. That combined with their low cost should make them a winner with frugal cooks around the globe.
However, during the past couple of decades, the greatness of eggs has been clouded. Mainly, it was because of the misinformation that dietary cholesterol leads to high blood cholesterol (which is totally wrong), and that therefore high-cholesterol eggs (specifically the yolks) must be avoided at all costs.
Brown egg
My eggy experience
Personally, I have had a love-hate relationship with eggs. When I was a kid, I loved them sunny-side up and runny yolk with toast. I loved them even more for making French toast. When I went off to college, the cafeteria served only scrambled eggs–which I didn’t particularly like–so cold cereal and milk became my breakfast staple.
Right before I got pregnant, I got turned on to putting raw egg yolks in my morning smoothie. Then I got pregnant, and my midwife cautioned me against that habit in case of nasty bacteria.
Frightened by the whole “pregnant women must force themselves to shove unnatural amounts of protein down their throat” doctrine, I tried eating fried eggs during my first trimester.
The keyword here is “tried.” No matter how wonderful their nutritional value. Seventy percent of the time just looking at them made me lose my appetite, and when I forced myself to eat them I often became miserably nauseated afterward.
Nutrients in eggs
Lately, I’ve fallen back in love with eggs. Well, with the yolks, anyway. Egg whites–raw or cooked–don’t agree with me for whatever reason.
Why the turn around? For one, I couldn’t get away from the egg’s nutritional value. The nutrients in egg yolks alone include:
- vitamin E,
- vitamin A,
- vitamin D,
- DHA (an omega-3 fatty acid necessary for brain and eye function),
- iron,
- biotin (a B vitamin necessary for fatty acid synthesis and blood sugar regulation),
- a small amount of calcium and
- several other trace minerals.
I’ve been putting raw yolks from organically fed, cage-free chickens in our morning smoothies for some time. Recently, I began to wonder why I couldn’t put eggs back in the dinner menu rotation. Our food bill had gotten noticeably higher since Benjamin started eating three meals per day, and I was looking for somewhere to cut back.
Since my husband enjoys scrambled eggs, he didn’t mind that idea one bit. The only problem was, I wanted them raw. For several weeks, I walked around mulling over an idea I had.
But it was kind of strange. And I wasn’t sure if it would taste all that good. Finally, I decided to go ahead and try it. Here’s the recipe I came up with:
Egg yolk dressing
- 3 egg yolks
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- squirt of ketchup
- salt and other herbs and spices to taste
Gently blend all together, pour over a large lettuce salad, and dig in.
Yes, this does taste good! Of course, I cook Jerry’s eggs. And Benjamin is easy: all I have to do is plop a couple of egg yolks in a dish, and he eats them up with a spoon like other kids eat ice cream. (Okay, maybe not that enthusiastically, but he does like them.)
Whether you want to preserve the enzymes and all the nutrients in eggs by eating them raw, or whether you don’t tolerate cooked eggs well, this recipe may help you out. You can always begin by using only one or two yolks to make sure that you enjoy the yolk-y flavor.
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