How to Safely Prepare And Eat Easter/Passover Eggs. Plus, 5 Delicious Recipes For Leftover Hard Boiled Eggs.

How many of us end up with WAY too many hard boiled eggs after Easter and Passover?

It's kind of insane to waste them when there are so many delicious ways to use them up. But before you do, make sure you follow some food safety rules so you can enjoy your leftovers safely.

Egg Safety:

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture hard-boiled eggs spoil faster than uncooked eggs because their protective outer coating is washed away during preparation. As a good rule of thumb, remember that hiding and hunting eggs should not exceed two hours. Any longer than that and the egg should be discarded.

1. After hard-boiling eggs, dye them and refrigerate within two hours.

2.NEVER eat an egg with a cracked shell. All cracked eggs must be thrown out.

3. When dying eggs you plan to eat, always be sure to use food-safe dyes.

4. Do not leave hard boiled eggs sitting out after the Easter egg hunt. Eggs must be refrigerated right away (within two hours) if you plan on eating them.

5. If you are making/eating Easter bread that contains cooked eggs, serve or refrigerate the bread within two hours and eat it within three to four days.

5 Ways To Use Up Leftover Easter/Passover Hard Boiled Eggs:

1. Egg Salad- Seems like an obvious choice, right?  I like to throw a spin on it and make a more decadent version of the classic BLT. Simply add some crunchy bacon, lettuce and tomato to a tried and true egg salad recipe (like the one below) and you've got yourself one heck of a sandwich.

2. Salad-Eggs are so delicious chopped up and tossed over a simple pinach salad. The tang in most salad dressings compliments the creaminess of the egg yolk beautifully.  If you feel like fancying it up a bit, try a Salad Nicoise and in particular, Rachael's Salmon Salad Nicoise. Delicious!!!

3. Meatloaf: My Sicilian mother in law loves to bake whole hard-boiled eggs into her meatloaf. Meatloaf isn't generally all that attractive, but this version is gorgeous. When you slice it up, the ground meat is flecked with beautiful slices of hard boiled egg. All you have to do is make your favorite meatloaf recipe (or try this one or this one), pat half of the mixture into a loaf pan, press two or three whole hard boiled eggs into the meat, then top it with remaining mixture, making sure to pat the meat down to completely cover the eggs. Bake as you normally would and allow to cool for a few minutes before slicing. This also makes a killer sandwich the next day!!

4. Breakfast Quesadilla- Brush one large tortilla with olive oil and place into a skillet over medium heat. Top tortilla with, 1/3 cup shredded cheddar cheese, 1 chopped hard boiled egg, 2 pieces of crumbled bacon and 1 scallion that has been thinly sliced, sprinkle over another 1/3 cup of cheese and top with another tortilla. Brush the top tortilla with a little oil. Press tortilla down to melt cheese. Once cheese is slightly melted, gently flip tortilla over to brown the second side. Cut into wedges and serve with salsa or sour cream.

5. Potato Salad- Who doesn't love potato salad, right? Adding in some hard-boiled eggs makes it so much more creamier and delicious. This recipe from Julia child is tops!

BLT&E Sandwich

Serves 4

Ingredients:

8 hard boiled eggs, chopped (I swear by this method)

4 slices of bacon, cut into 1/2 inc pieces

3/4 c mayonnaise

salt and pepper to taste

1 tsp dried mustard you can use dijon or regular mustard in place of the dried)

4 pieces of whole wheat bread, toasted

4 pieces of romaine lettuce, cut in half

1 large tomato, diced

Instructions:

1.Hard boil your eggs according to this method.

2. In a medium frying pan over medium heat cook bacon for 6-8 minutes or until crisp. Allow to drain on paper towel.

3. In a medium bowl combine, chopped eggs, mayonnaise, salt, pepper and mustard.

4. Place a romaine leaf on each of the 4 slices of toast and distribute egg salad evenly. Sprinkle each with bacon and chopped tomato. Top with the remaining romaine leaves and toast slices.

Christina Stanley-Salerno is a mama, recipe developer, food stylist, photographer and blogger atTakeBackYourTable.com. She loves cooking for and with her family. Life is hectic, but Christina is passionate about mealtime because she believes that family meals are the glue that holds everyone together. Creating simple, quick and healthy meals is her specialty and her trick to keeping the family meal a reality, even on busy weeknights.

Follow her on Twitter @TakeBackTablesEnjoy!