For many years people have been warned to watch their intake of eggs due to their high cholesterol content. Newer research has shown that cholesterol in food has a much smaller effect on total blood cholesterol and the “bad’ LDL cholesterol than does the total mix of fats and refined carbohydrates in the diet.
In addition, eggs have important nutrients for good health, including protein, B vitamins, and lutein (an antioxidant known to reduce the risk of cataracts and age-related macular degeneration).
According to the Harvard School of Public Health, eating an egg a day does not increase the risk of heart disease in most healthy people. But if you have trouble controlling your blood cholesterol levels or have diabetes, you may want to be cautious by choosing more egg whites and limiting your yolk intake to three per week. If you have concerns about your situation, be sure to talk to your doctor or cardiologist for a personal recommendation.
Fool-Proof Hard Cooked Eggs
Hard-cooked eggs make a perfect quick breakfast or grab-and-go snack. You can store them in the fridge for up to a week. Follow these instructions for the perfect hard-cooked eggs!
- To make it easier to peel cooked eggs, start with eggs that were purchased at least a week before cooking (really fresh eggs are notoriously difficult to peel!). Place room temperature eggs in a single layer in a pan with a lid. (If you didn’t have time to bring them to room temperature, before cooking add the eggs to a bowl of warm water for about 10 minutes. Drain and proceed with cooking.)
- Add cool water to cover eggs by about one inch. Bring the eggs to a rolling boil, then immediately remove from the heat and cover.
- Steep them in the covered pan 12 minutes for medium eggs; 17 minutes for large; 19 minutes for extra-large, and 20 minutes for jumbo. To prevent rubbery whites and green rings around the yolk, the timing is very important so be sure to use a timer.
When the timer buzzes, pour off the hot water and place eggs in ice water. Once they are cool, you can peel them. To peel, tap the flat end on a hard surface to crack it; then start peeling. Peeling under cold running water makes the task easier.