Real, whole eggs are good food, nourishing, delicious, versatile, economical, and easy to prepare. Unfortunately, supermarket eggs are almost always factory farmed and of inferior-quality, flavor and nutritional value compared to their more traditional, garden- or pasture-raised counterparts.
Dr. Artemis Simopoulos, Ph.D. author of The Omega Plan, compared the omega 3 essential fatty acid content of Greek eggs (from truly free ranging hens fed fish meal) with factory farmed supermarket eggs.
Look at the difference in color between an omega-3 rich pasture-raised chicken egg from a mixed, pasture farm A Bar H Farm in San Simon, AZ, vs. an organic health food store egg.The bright orange egg also tastes better and more flavorful.
The chickens eating a better diet contained 6.6 milligrams of DHA (an essential fatty acid found in oily, deep ocean fish, fish oil, wild game, 100% grassfed meat, pasture raised dairy products, and egg yolks) for every gram of yolk. Battery raised, regular supermarket eggs contained only 1.09 milligrams of DHA per gram of yolk. What’s the difference?
Their diets. Grass fed beef and lamb and pasture-raised pork and poultry are healthier and more resilient to disease and their meat contain more vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants, and more flavor. Similarly, free running chickens living outdoors, eating their natural diet are healthier and produce more nutritious and flavorful eggs than factory-farmed eggs.
Photo right (chickens and nest) courtesy A Bar H Farm
Gathering eggs
Where can you buy super eggs that contain all the nutrients nature intended? Look for farmers in your city or state who produce 100% grassfed beef or lamb or pasture-fed pork and poultry. Next, check local natural foods co-op or small natural foods stores
that stocks food from smal farmers. Also check farmers’ markets.
Pasture fed eggs are different from and better than so-called free-range, uncaged, or organic eggs. The terms free-range and uncaged can mean the chickens are allowed to run around in a barnyard. They might have access to the outdoors, but not necessarily live or eat outdoors with no real pastures or gardens to run and feed in and nothing to forage for. Organic just means the chickens were fed herbicide- and pesticide-free corn and soybean, a grain-based diet. It doesn’t mean the chickens ate an optimal diet they were designed by nature to eat.
Pasture-raised or grass-fed chickens run, scratch, and around outdoors on grassy pastures or in gardens eating bugs, worms, and grubs, which they thrive on. They help control pests on pasture raised farms where they co-exist with cows, goats, and other animals and they eat vegetable scraps and insects when they live on vegetable and fruit farms. And they produce superior eggs that contain higher contents of vitamins A, B12, and omega 3 essential fatty acids than battery raised eggs from the supermarket.
Photo right (chickens and nest) courtesy A Bar H Farm
If you cannot find such eggs, the next best thing is eggs from a supermarket or natural foods store labeld “EPA-rich” or “DHA-rich” eggs. These come from chickens fed DHA-enriched feed (usally flax seed meal and/or fish meal). Chickens are far more efficient than humans at convering LNA (linolenic acid) in flax seeds and greens to long chain actived omega 3 fats. EPA and DHA-rich eggs cost more than other store-bought eggs and they’re worth buying if you can’t get eggs from a farmer who lets the chickens run and feed in pastures.
What about fertile eggs?
Fertile eggs come from chickens that run with roosters; these eggs have more life force because they have the potential to produce new life if allowed to develop. In contrast, non-fertile eggs have less life force.
What about the color of the shell?
Different breeds of chickens produce eggs with different colored markings. Colors may range from speckled brown to beige, cream to brown, and turquoise to green. Some may be white. White eggs are not inherently unnatural, although most eggs from truly free ranging or pastured chickens have more vivid color.
Signs of a great egg
Nutrient-rich eggs from healthy, free-ranging birds (ideally those raised on open pastures) have a tougher shell that’s harder to crack and a firmer, brighter, more well rounded, golden orange yolk that rises up out of the whites and is harder to break than a conventional yolk. The healthier the chickens, the more nutritious and distinct and enjoyable the flavor and aroma of the eggs.
Angeled Eggs
Prep: 30 minutes/ Cooking: 1 minutes/ Yield: 6 servings
Angled....deviled, what’sthe difference? Deviled sounds so much less inviting and puts the eggs in such an unfavorable light. There’s nothing evil about these eggs as long as you avoid using mayonnaise that contains refined vegetable oils (soy, safflower, sunflower, corn, or canola oil) or hydrogenated oils.
For the richest, smokiest flavor, use bittersweet (not hot) smoked paprika and add toasted dulse––a crinkly, purple sea vegetable––adds a slightly smoky and salty taste along with healthful minerals and potassium. Look for it in natural foods stores or order it over the internet. You can mail order dulse here.
To toast dulse leaf: spread it on a baking tray and place it in a preheated 200˚F oven for about 10 minutes until slightly crispy. Stay close to avoid burning it. Sort to remove small shells or stones. Place dulse in a widemouth jar and store at room temperature.
Ingredients:
6 large Hard-boiled Eggs (click here to learn how to cook eggs perfectly)
1 3/4 teaspoons white or yellow mustard
1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric, optional, antioxidant
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper or ground chipotlé (smoked dried jalapeno)
1 tablespoon finely minced (thoroughly washed) fresh scallions, chives, parsley, tarragon or chervil or 1 teaspoon dried, crumbled herbs
1/2 cup Toasted Dulse or Applewood Smoked Dulse leaf (not flakes!), crumbled
1/4 cup minced sweet white onion or scallions or 2 teaspoons minced shallots, optional
2 teaspoons lemon juice or organic apple cider vinegar, optional
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons Mustard Tahini Dressing (see The Garden of Eating) or Grapeseed Oil Vegenaise or Homemade Mayonnaise (click here for recipe)
Paprika or bittersweet smoked paprika, to dust egg halves
1. Peel eggs and slice in half lengthwise. Add yolks to a medium bowl with remaining ingredients (except paprika). Mix and mash into a coarse cream with a fork or potato masher.
2. Portion and spoon heaping teaspoon-size balls of yolk mixture into the egg white halves, then evenly divide any remaining mixture. Dust with paprika.
3. Cover in a glass or Pyrex container and refrigerate. Use within 3 days.
Variations:
* For wet mustard substitute 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard. For a spicy kick, double the pepper.
* Egg Salad: Mash whites with yolks and seasonings. Serve on toasted whole grain bread or stuffed into whole wheat pita pockets with lettuce or baby greens, cucumber, bell pepper, celery, and grated carrot. For roll-ups, wrap tablespoon sized portions of egg salad in lettuce leaves and secure with toothpicks
Source: The Garden of Eating: A Produce-Dominated Diet and Cookbook by Rachel Albert-Matesz & Don Matesz. For more info on the book and to order, click here.
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