With eggs, cooking is soon over, easy

If you ever get close enough to a hen to whisper sweet nothings into her ear, take note of her earlobes — with just a couple of exceptions, the earlobe colour will tell you the colour of the eggs she will lay. The two traits, earlobe colour and egg colour, are linked genetically, so — green lobes, green eggs.

The same rule does not apply to ham. If your ham is green, you should not eat it … Sam I am.

June 3 is National Egg Day (and as if one day isn’t enough, Oct. 9 is also earmarked as World Egg Day) and with summer at the garden gate, trying some new recipes with nutritious, easy-to-cook eggs can help to turn down the heat in your summer kitchen.

As an affordable, locally produced protein, eggs are a big deal, especially when learning to cook. A reliable, local resource for recipes and nutritional information is Manitoba Egg Farmers (eggs.mb.ca).

“Eggs are a great place to start for new cooks because they are quick, easy and versatile — eggs can be eaten for any meal,” said Claire McCaffrey, senior manager of marketing and communications at Manitoba Egg Farmers.

She said eggs are a complete protein and contain all nine of the essential amino acids that our bodies can’t make on their own.

“This makes them a great option for supporting muscle mass and helping you build strength, no matter your age or activity level,” she said.

In addition to protein, nutrient-dense eggs are loaded with a laundry list of vitamins and minerals: vitamins A, B12, D, E, riboflavin, folate, choline, selenium, lutein, zeaxanthin and iron. To get the full benefit, eat both the yolk and the white.

Protein facilitates functions in every part of the body, including building and repairing tissue, fighting infection, fluid balance, serving as enzymes and hormones and calories for energy.

As an aid to weight maintenance, those breakfast eggs can help keep you trim. A comparison between an egg-based breakfast versus a bagel-based breakfast (same calories), found that individuals who ate two eggs and toast lost 65 per cent more weight, and had an 83 per cent greater reduction in waist circumference while maintaining higher energy over the bagel and yogurt breakfast.

In Manitoba, egg farming provides 1,227 jobs, $171 million in farm cash receipts, $136 million to Canada’s GDP and $50 million in tax revenues. For all of Canada, egg farming provides 19,827 jobs, $1.8 billion in farm cash receipts, $1.9 billion to Canada’s GDP and $675 million in tax revenues

Manitoba currently has 170 egg and pullet farmers.

McCaffrey shared a recipe from the Manitoba Egg Farmers site.

“We have a large recipe collection on our website featuring eggs for every meal — my favourite way to use our website is to search the recipe archive for the ingredients I already have on hand, and find an egg recipe to use them with.”

To search the archive, go to eggs.mb.ca, click on “recipes.” The page will show you a search box, type in your ingredients and tap “go.” You can also browse by category.

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