We have the post-Easter blues. Who’s with me? We’re sick with ham and potatoes and chocolate bunnies and post traumatic family withdrawal and egg hunting fever.

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And, we are sick of hard boiled eggs. You see, I insisted on coloring eggs with Johnny. And you know, not just a few eggs. A friend had given me a couple dozen farm fresh eggs, all brown and green and beautiful, and dang if I didn’t boil up every last one of them.

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Johnny wasn’t so thrilled with the process, but I was in heaven. It had been a good twenty years since I dyed an egg and I wasn’t waiting another minute. I was going, and I was going big.

But you know, after a week of eating hard boiled eggs for every breakfast and snack, we grew a little tired of them so I decided to make them new again. Enter: the deviled egg. It’s no secret that I think eggs are nature’s perfect food, and that I want eggs with and on everything, so it stands to reason that I would love any and all deviled eggs, and it’s true, I do. But I especially love a deviled egg that is a little non-traditional. It started years ago with my friend Sherry’s wasabi eggs, and I’ve been throwing random ingredients into deviled egg filling ever since. You can do capers, or salmon, or diced up shrimp. You could try stirring in some artichoke hearts or a little pesto. Or what about a little white bean puree, or some bacon? Cheese? Why yes, I think I’ll have some with cream cheese and maybe we’ll try some feta. The possibilities are limitless, because eggs? They are nothing if not the perfect vehicle for all sorts of other flavors.

This time I opened up the fridge to see what I could add to my eggs, and came up a little disappointed. I was out of wasabi, no shrimp or smoked salmon just laying around. I was too lazy to fry bacon, and too tired to make pesto. So I went for big flavor with little effort, and isn’t that what we all really want on any given weeknight anyway?

First, I have to say that I have two fairly strict rules about deviled eggs, no matter what the rest of the ingredients. First, it has to be mayonnaise, NOT MIRACLE WHIP, and second, it has to have a little vinegar or else the filling is too creamy and not tart.

So with those basic elements, let’s begin.

I decided on deviled eggs with curry, and horseradish deviled eggs. We are big on spicy and big on strong flavors, and both of these additions deliver just that.

The process is straightforward. 1) Boil eggs. 2) Let them cool, preferably overnight. 3) Peel eggs. 4) Slice them in half and remove the yolks carefully. 5) Mix up your filling as you see fit.

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Both of my fillings had the same basic ingredients, save the few key differences. I started with 6 eggs for each, and the added 2 teaspoons of fresh chives to the yolks. Then I added a hefty pinch of salt (eggs need salt), a tablespoon of white vinegar, a heaping spoonful of mayonnaise, and a few turns of the black pepper grinder.

To the horseradish bowl I added a tablespoon of horseradish, and was ready to stir. To the curry bowl I added a tablespoon of storebought curry powder (if you make your own curry it will probably be stronger so adjust down), and a teaspoon of spicy dijon mustard.

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With a fork, mash and stir until the mixture is smooth. Then arrange the egg “boats” on a pretty plate, and begin filling. I didn’t feel like searching for a pastry bag or fixing tips so I just shoveled my filling into a zip lock baggie and cut the corner off. It made the piping easy, if not fancy-looking. A pastry bag and tip would make a much fancier presentation, but you know, this stuff is just for me and Mr. Meat and Potatoes and we don’t need no stinking fancy eggs.

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Once everything was piped in, I sprinkled with fresh chives over the top, and voila, the resurrected eggs (get it?) were ready to eat. And eat, we did. There are certain drawbacks to having eggs for dinner, as you may well understand, but we decided it was worth it.

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