It’s a tough time for egg lovers. With avian flu limiting supplies in supermarkets all over the country, chicken egg prices are rising to luxury food levels — how soon till they show up on tasting menus as “chicken caviar?” And that’s if you can even find them. Some store shelves are bare, a sad situation for ovivores that could continue for a while.
But we here at New York Times Cooking are all about solutions. Genevieve Ko has created a terrific guide to egg substitutes to get you through egg-based projects like baking. And in today’s email I’m focusing on eggless versions of traditionally eggful recipes.
Most meatball recipes call for eggs to bind the ground meat. Yet Kay Chun skips them entirely in her tender chicken miso meatballs. Her dish calls for a mash of crumbled Ritz crackers moistened with milk and spiked with garlic and miso, which helps the ground chicken keep its shape beautifully and bake up into golden, flavorful morsels. Kay suggests serving these with a quick dipping sauce of soy mixed with vinegar and some chopped scallions. I like to add a little grated ginger, too, for an added kick.
Featured Recipe
Chicken Miso Meatballs
Sarah DiGregorio replaces runny eggs with seafood in her shrimp in purgatory. A clever take on an Italian classic, it’s perfect for when you’re craving a spicy, garlicky, tomato-filled dish that can be pulled together in under half an hour. Filled with roasted red peppers and capers, Sarah’s version of the “purgatory” sauce is an especially tangy contrast next to the sweetness of the shrimp. Serve it with toasted bread for a speedy dinner or a heavenly, egg-free breakfast.
Another deluxe egg-free breakfast is Ali Slagle’s savory tofu scramble. Seasoned with maple syrup, sage and black pepper, this hearty dish infuses the tofu with the sweet and herby flavors of breakfast sausage. You could round it out with vegetables, too — almost anything that cooks quickly, like greens, peas or cherry tomatoes will find a happy home amid the soft nuggets of seared tofu. Or serve it with sliced avocado on the side for a buttery counterpoint.
In the silver linings category, now would be a great time to try your hand at vegan cooking if you’re not already adept. Among our vast trove of vegan recipes, one of the highest rated is Becky Hughes’s vegan Caesar salad with crisp chickpeas, adored by vegans and omnivores alike. In her five-star salad, she employs cashews, miso, nutritional yeast and caper brine to mimic that salty-creamy complexity of the traditional anchovy- and egg-rich dressing. On top of all that lovely, dressed kale and romaine, the mingling of crisp chickpeas and crunchy croutons are a textural delight. As Sarah Goldman, a reader, writes in the recipe notes, “Forget best vegan Caesar dressing — this is the best Caesar dressing I’ve tasted. Ever.”
Of all the places to go eggless, baked goods present a particular challenge. But no eggs are necessary for Genevieve Ko’s vegan banana bread. There’s no dairy in this super simple recipe either, allowing the caramelly taste of ultraripe bananas to come through loud and clear. Genevieve tops the loaf with salted chopped peanuts, which adds a lovely, savory crunch. But feel free to leave them out for a softer, nut-free banana bread experience.
Or go all in on peanuts and bake up a batch of Yossy Arefi’s peanut-butter chocolate-chip cookies, which require just a few pantry staples and no electric mixer. Soft and fudgy right out of the oven, they’ll keep their glorious texture for a few days (unless you devour them all first).
Without a doubt, you’ll want to subscribe to get all these amazing recipes (and thanks to you if you already do). If you need any technical assistance, you can send an email to cookingcare@nytimes.com; the smart folks there are sure to help. And I’m at hellomelissa@nytimes.com if you want to say hi.
That’s all for now, and I’ll see you on Monday.
