Do you think about your budget when you plan your meals?  I equate my financial budget to my calorie budget. If you spend your hard-earned money on good quality calories, your purse and waistline will thank you!  {I always tell my clients, although it might seem cheaper to buy fast food, there’s a healthcare cost associated with it down the road!}

Here’s a delicious, protein packed recipe that costs a mere:$1.10 per serving (including dressing, salt, pepper).

I love eggs as they are an AMAZING source of protein + inexpensive + versatile + tasty.  You can purchase 2 dozen, cage-gree, grade A, large eggs at Costco for $2.99.  For this recipe, I use two eggs whites + 1/2 – 1 yolk.

Shaving egg yolks is all the rage now.  Egg yolks as a top-notch flavor enhancer to lunch and dinner dishes around the globe.   In this salad, I shave the egg yolks to add subtle flavor and taste excitement to this dish.  What you’ll see is that a little goes a long way!

Once you hard-boil the eggs (feel free to do a batch ahead of time and put in the refrigerator), peel off the shells and carefully slice into the white all around without cutting into the yolk.   Remove the yolks — and chop the whites either by hand or in a mini food processor.  I have a T-Fal chopper — no electricity required.  For a close up look at the product, read my review.

Put the arugula into a bowl and place other vegetables on top.  Add egg whites to the middle of the veggies.  (FYI: the egg whites contain the protein; the yolks add flavorful fat. I like to just add a bit — 1/2 yolk to give the salad good mouthfeel and flavor + antioxidants (zeaxanthin + lutein) for eye health!

To spice it up a bit, I add hot giardiniera as my dressing. (It’s only about $.20 an ounce.)  And a yummy salad is born!  The best part is it’s not expensive to make this plant-based, high protein salad.  Feel free to get creative with it, too.  Use beans, peas and lentils as another inexpensive protein source.  Throw in peppers, mushrooms or baby corn or any veggies you like.

Serves 1

Ingredients

2 large eggs, hard-boiled, peeled

1 cup arugula, rinsed and spun

1/4 cup, cucumber, chopped

1/4 cup carrots, chopped

1 Roma tomato, sliced

1 Tablespoon hot giardiniera

A pinch of salt and ground black pepper

Directions

To hard-boil eggs, place in pot and cover with water.  Place on the stove top over high heat.  Bring to a rolling boil, immediately reduce heat to simmer, cover and cook for 10 minutes.  Immediate remove from heat, dump out hot water in the skin while running cold water over the eggs to stop further cooking.  Set eggs aside in a cold water bath for a few minutes.  If you are going to use later, place the hard-boiled eggs in the refrigerator.

Place the arugula into a shallow salad bowl, arrange veggies in groups over the greens.

Remove the shells from the eggs — and carefully cut around the middle of the eggs to remove the whites (without cutting the yolks).  Chop the white finely and place in the middle of the salad.  With a vegetable peeler or large holed grater, shave one egg yolk over the salad.  You may only need 1/2 of a yolk, but feel free to use the whole yolk, if you prefer more flavor.

For dressing, add the giardiniera — feel free to use a mild variety, if you like less heat.  Add salt and pepper.  Serve immediately.