Our Healthy Must-Have of the Week: Eggs

For a food that was once a diet don't, eggs sure have made a comeback. And with good reason: Eggs are the complete nutrition package. They're inexpensive, packed with important nutrients, low in calories, and extremely versatile. Here are the top five reasons why eggs are a must-have in my refrigerator:

1. They're packed with protein. Eggs are a good source of high-quality protein, with about 6.5 grams of protein per large egg. Research shows that protein can increase the satisfaction you feel not only during your meal, but also after it's over. Starting the day with eggs at breakfast has been shown to help control calorie intake for the rest of the day. My favorite simple egg breakfast is a fried egg (using cooking spray or a teaspoon of olive oil), a slice of low-fat cheese, tomato, and sauteed onions on a whole-wheat English muffin.

2. They're good any time of day.Though they're most commonly eaten at breakfast, eggs work just as well as a satisfying lunch or quick and delicious dinner. Slice and serve hard-boiled eggs on whole-wheat toast spread with hummus and tomato for a hearty breakfast or lunch; eat one whole for a speedy snack; or make egg salad using a combination of light mayo and yogurt for a sandwich filling for lunch or a quick dinner. For a family dinner, a veggie frittata is perfect! Simply mix veggies and cheese into a combination of whole eggs and/or liquid egg whites, like Best Life approved Better'n Eggs or All Whites.

3. They're portion-controlled. A hard-boiled egg is a naturally portion-controlled snack. At just 70 to 80 calories per egg, it makes a quick and convenient snack that comes in its own package, and is easily paired with a variety of other foods. For instance, pair with baby carrots and hummus for a hunger-fighting snack.

4. They boost brain power. Eggs are one of the top food sources of choline, a nutrient crucial for healthy brain function. One egg supplies 125 milligrams, or about 30 percent of your daily needs (adults 19 and older need 425 mg each day). Choline is especially important for pregnant and breastfeeding women (they need 450 milligrams per day); choline helps prevent birth defects and provides nursing babies with enough dietary choline.

5. They protect your pumper. Eggs do contain cholesterol (about 200 milligrams per egg), which is the primary reason they were once shunned. But we now know that dietary cholesterol doesn't raise your body's cholesterol level as much as other dietary fats (like saturated and trans fats) do. Still, the American Heart Association recommends eating no more than 300 milligrams of cholesterol per day. Egg whites don't contain any of the cholesterol, so pairing one egg with additional egg whites is a great way to get the nutrients in the yolk without going overboard on cholesterol.

In the Kitchen with Sidra: Eggs, Explained

No matter how you like 'em—scrambled, poached or hard-boiled—eggs actually are all they're cracked up to be. The whites are loaded with protein, which is more satiating than either fat or carbs, and the yolk contains powerful antioxidants. If you're worried about the cholesterol in the yolk, you probably shouldn't be. Research shows that saturated fat is more of a concern than dietary cholesterol when it comes to raising blood cholesterol levels. (If you happen to be someone who's sensitive to dietary cholesterol, you could always stick with egg whites. And even if you're not cholesterol-sensitive, there's a case to be made for using egg whites or liquid eggs if you're watching your weight, as explained below.)

But decoding labels and deciding which dozen to grab can be pretty confusing. If you have the opportunity, buy from a local farmer; you can easily find out how the chickens are raised and what they're fed in this case. If you're buying from a grocery store, you can use the egg guide below to make the healthiest choice:

Color. The color of the eggshell, which is determined by the type of chicken that laid it as well as the chicken's diet, has nothing to do with its nutritional value. (It's not like white bread versus whole wheat bread.) In fact, one of the farmers that I buy eggs from has Araucana chickens, a breed that produces blue eggs!  

Grade. There are two choices when it comes to grade: A and AA. This info basically tells you how fresh an egg is. Freshness is measured by the amount of air between the egg and the shell; AA has less air, so it's considered fresher. In general, fresher eggs are slightly more flavorful. Two things to keep in mind about the grade: The fresher the egg, the easier it is to separate the white from the yolks. However, if you're hard-boiling an egg, it's easier to remove the shell if the egg is a little older and has more air in it. I've tried to make hard boiled eggs with extremely fresh eggs from the farmers market—it's nearly impossible to peel them neatly.

Organic. This label guarantees that the chicken has some access to the outside and that their feed is generally antibiotic free. They're more expensive than other types of eggs but both the flavor and nutrition are superior. Note: Any carton that does not specify  probably contains conventional eggs. These eggs are the least expensive, but the chickens that lay them are usually kept in overcrowded cages and as a result are unhealthy and are often given antibiotics.

Free-Range and Cage-Free. This label guarantees that the chicken is outside for at least some of the time—the amount varies greatly from producer to producer. This distinction has nothing to do with what the chickens are fed. Organic eggs are free-range and cage-free but the opposite isn't necessarily true—free-range or cage-free eggs may not have been treated by organic standards unless specified on the label.

Liquid Eggs. These products are primarily egg whites. Best Life approved AllWhites, for instance, look like regular egg whites and come in a handy container. Better'n Eggs are also egg whites that bear the Best Life seal, but they're actually closer in color to a whole egg that has been scrambled; that's because they contain added nutrients found in yolks as well as natural beta carotene. The benefit of using egg whites is that they're low in calories, and are fat-free and cholesterol-free. Liquid egg whites do one better: Because they come in small milk-like containers, they're very easy to use—no cracking, no spills, no mess. There's a slight difference in taste between liquid eggs and whole eggs, although you can generally use liquid eggs in most recipes that call for whole eggs. The one exception for liquid egg whites is that you cannot whip them into a stiff peak because they're heated during the pasteurization process.

Egg-Boiling Basics

You may consider boiling an egg to be one of the simplest cooking techniques, but believe it or not, there are a few tricks that can make for a tastier egg. I did a bunch of reading and experiment to come up with this method:

 

1. Start with eggs that are about four to five days old. They're harder to peel if they are new. Remember, for the best-tasting, freshest eggs, make sure to keep themrefrigerated and store them in the carton they came in; eggs have over17,000 tiny pores on their surface, which allow them to absorb odorsand flavors around them! 

2. Place your eggs in a single layer in a saucepan and cover them with at least one inch of cool water. Starting with colder water and bringing them to a boil slowly will make them less likely to crack.

3. Once the water begins to boil, turn down the heat to low for about one more minute. Be careful not to let the eggs boil for too long. Overcooking them can cause that green ring to form around the outside of the yolk.

4. Remove the pan from the heat, cover, and let the eggs sit for about 12 to 13 minutes. 
 
5. Remove the eggs from the hot water and rinse with cold water or let sit in ice water for a few minutes to cool them down.

Then, feel free to enjoy. Here's how I eat my boiled eggs:

• Mediterranean style: Slice one egg and layer it on a whole-grain English muffin spread with hummus. Then top with a slice of tomato and a slice of reduced-fat Swiss cheese.  This makes a delicious quick breakfast or sandwich to pair with soup for lunch.

• Egg salad with a touch of turmeric: I use a 3:1 ratio of egg whites to whole eggs, which cuts back on the total calories of the egg salad. Then I add a ton of chopped celery, about one tablespoon of light mayonnaise, a teaspoon of Dijon mustard, and a touch of turmeric (a delicious spice that gives the egg salad a nice yellowy hue).  Egg salad is great as a light snack on a slice of WASA crispbread or scooped on top of a big green salad.
 
• Naked: I sprinkle the egg with a little pepper and very tiny amount of sea salt.  

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