Ham and Eggs Salad

Submitted by Sandy in Dayton

"I had some hard boiled eggs and some diced ham and here is what I came up with. I would suggest at least 4 hours refrigerator time so that it can chill and the flavors meld (right word?). I think the next time I might add some finely diced celery for some extra crunch. I used packaged diced ham and sweet pickle relish because that is what I had, but you can always do your own dicing of ham and chop whatever type of sweet pickle tastes good to you. I would recommend that if you are doing your own dicing, that you go for a fine dice as it will be easier to eat and make the salad more consistent. I did not added any salt as the ham already has enough salt for the entire dish. This is awesome on rye bread, crackers, croissants, or served as mound on a bed of leafy lettuce with some tomato as a wonderful addition - of course they would also work great in a split pita pocket. When I was down to about 1/2 the bowl full I added some sour cream and really liked it - that is also when I came up with the idea of substituting bacon for the ham."

 

• Ready In: 40mins
• Ingredients: 12
• Serves: 8

ingredients

• 8 hard-boiled eggs (I use large)
• 8 ounces finely diced ham
• 3 green onions, finely chopped (use both white and green part)
• 1⁄2 tablespoon of coleman's mustard powder (yellow mustard can be substituted, to taste)
• 1⁄2 teaspoon dried tarragon
• 3⁄4 teaspoon celery seed
• 1 cup mayonnaise (if you prefer, Miracle Whip can be used)
• 2 tablespoons sweet pickle relish
• black pepper

• optional

• 1⁄3 cup finely chopped celery
• 1⁄4 cup sour cream

• instead of ham try

• 8 slices crisp bacon, that has been broken up or 1/2 cup bacon bits, for bacon & eggs salad

directions

1. **If you do not have hard cooked eggs on hand, put eggs in pan with cold water, a pinch of salt, and a tablespoon of white vinegar. Once water comes to boil, cover, turn off heat and let simmer 20 minutes. Cover eggs with ice water for 10 minutes, drain, crack, and peel. (You can chop other ingredients while eggs are cooking).
2. Using an egg slicer, first slice each egg one way, then pick up entire sliced egg, turn it around and slice again in the opposite direction (or if you have a favorite method, just chop up fine). Do this with all 8 eggs and put in a glass bowl.
3. Add diced ham, chopped onions, and pickle relish, and toss with a fork into the chopped eggs. Now would be the time to add the celery if you are using it.
4. Add the mayonnaise, dried mustard, celery seed and dried tarragon and mix thoroughly with a fork . You want to toss as apposed to beating, as you want to keep the ingredients as whole as possible. Cover and refrigerate for a minimum of 4 hours - overnight is even better.
5. Enjoy.