Punch Up The Flavor Of Plain Ol' Egg Salad With A Briny Addition

If you think egg salad is bland and boring, you may want to rethink your usual lunch. Although hard-boiled eggs and mayonnaise are pretty simplistic in their natural state, a versatile egg salad base becomes a blank slate for any flavor and texture addition you're craving. A rough dice of celery adds crunch, a sprinkle of paprika lends spice, herbs like parsley and dill bring freshness, and anything from miso to chili crisp can add countless layers of flavor. But in my humble opinion, a good egg salad needs a punch from something salty and vinegary — like capers. 

When it comes to leveling-up your egg salad, your only limit is your imagination — and maybe whatever's in your pantry. Capers are just one of the many variations on egg salad, making it so you never see the chilled staple as anything close to boring. This also helps to use up that jar of capers languishing in your fridge; You know that one that you only used a teaspoon of before it just sat on the shelf of your fridge door? Chop up a few of those salty, briny pearls and throw them in your next egg salad and you'll have a lunch of unexpectedly delicious proportions.

You may have only thought of whipping them out for chicken piccata or a lox bagel, but capers — those tiny, not-yet-ripe flower buds which are preserved in brine — might surprise you with how much weight they can pull in an egg salad. The salty brine cuts through the richness of the mayonnaise and the egg yolk, plus the slightly sour tang adds brightness to an otherwise one-note flavor profile. To take even a cauliflower egg salad over the edge, a rough chop of parsley adds an extra layer of verdant freshness on top of the capers; Plus, the green flecks look vibrant against the pale yellow eggs.

You can serve your egg salad on white bread for a classic take, but the base you serve your egg salad on is just as important as the egg salad itself. I would go for a good, crusty slice of sourdough bread to add chewy texture and make an otherwise ho-hum lunch a rather luxurious experience. You can even scoop the egg salad into lettuce cups for an elegant presentation, and serve it with fresh cut vegetables like carrot chips and cucumber slices for a low-carb lunch that feels a bit fancier than normal.