Eating Eggs Benedict is like dating "naughty boys" - they're fun, they look super tasty, and we always have a good time when we're together. Because bad boys know full well that they're the dine-and-dash kind of guys, they have a lot of experience with predicting when the drop will occur. Eventually, we (oh yeah, that part) fall in love with them. This sparks the last minute scramble. They pack up. They head for the hills. They leave us high and dry. Usually, their departure is so sudden and happens so quickly that a dust cloud lies in their wake. The emotional aftermath is enough to stop us in our tracks. We find ourselves asking the question "was the joyride really worth the heartbreak?" The answer is "probably not (well, maybe the first time)."
The traditional Eggs Benedict is a brilliantly bad boyfriend – for a brief moment we revel in its flavors and its glory. We savor the mastery of its art, but its brilliance is unsustainable. My empty plate hides no secrets. Remnants of hollandaise are smeared across the plate. Salty bread crumbs lie in the wake of a devil-may-care fling. My fork, licked clean in a last ditch effort to savor the very last bite, is carefully placed across the plate's horizon – this one act of deliberateness marks the end of a wonderfully delicious and all too infrequent love affair.
Our version of Eggs Benedict can be compared to dating the hot and nice guys - you know, the ones that stick around and commit. They're equally as delicious, but there's a whole lot less risk of having your heart shattered. And, to avoid the morning after "walk of shame", we've significantly lightened our guilt by:
- Inventing a delicious little mock hollandaise sauce. For us, flavor flies in the face of being nearly shameless. Our recipe is olive oil based (and low sodium) - yep, no egg yolks, no butter, no mayo – made with just 6 ingredients that normally would be found in your pantry and fridge. And it's super easy to make. You can find it here.
- Swapping out the bacon for one of the following: grilled asparagus, grilled eggplant (rounds), blanched spinach grilled (sliced or halved), leeks sliced mushrooms, roasted tomato slices
- Making our English muffins. There is nothing like the scent of freshly toasted English muffins wafting through your kitchen and home. It might be one of the best smells to wake up to (especially if you want to wake up early and surprise someone by making them breakfast, okay, well maybe make them in advance to gift yourself a few more winks of sleep). The recipe is a little unconventional, but making English muffins from scratch can be a lot of fun. I asked my mom to re-test the recipe for us, and she really loved doing it. From a low-sodium perspective, the only sodium in the recipe comes from the potatoes (1 potato is 10 mg of sodium; our entire recipe uses 1/8 cup, and a little potato water). Here is the Homemade English Muffins recipe.
Lightening the love might even get addictive, in a good way of course. I didn't even blink an eye when I made the recipe a second, third, or fourth time. Unintentionally, my naughty boy hollandaise recipe lies covered in dust. I've come to cherish the new lighter side of love more than the old heavy one, and to be honest, I think I got a significant upgrade in this kind of deal. Whether I look forward or whether I look back, I find that it is the simple, small changes in my life that have made the biggest difference overall.
Read more about our Guest Contributors from the Low Sodium Blog here.
