Hard-boiled eggs in the oven

What’s not to love about hard-boiled eggs? I mean really. They make the perfect, portable snack. You can add them to salads for a boost of high quality protein. And they taste oh-so good. In a previous post I talked about the many benefits of eggs, so why not go over them again? Keep on reading.

As a Nutritionist I recommend eggs to many of my clients as a healthy part of a balanced diet. But not all eggs are created equal. It comes down to quality. What’s are the best eggs to eat? Organic pastured eggs. This means that the chicken who laid the egg was free to roam and forage for it’s natural diet of grass + insects. This is important because the chicken’s diet and lifestyle greatly affects the health + nutrition content of it’s potential offspring, the egg. So when you’re at the store reading the health claims on the egg carton, look for the USDA Organic stamp and the word pastured or pasture-raised. Or better yet, get your eggs from the farmer’s market or from a local farmer who raises free roaming, pastured chickens. And if you’re lucky enough, raise your own chickens.

Eggs are considered a superfood in my house. They have so much nutritional value and the cooking options are plenty [hard-boiled, fried, scrambled, poached, etc.]. I see too many people making egg white omelets and egg white scrambles because, for some reason, they think the yolk is bad for them? Please don’t do that. If you’re skipping the yolk you’re missing out on so much good stuff. And yes the yolk contains cholesterol, but we’re learning that dietary cholesterol may not be the contributing factor to heart disease as once thought. An inflammatory diet high in toxic, processed food and deficient in whole foods may be the problem.

But what’s really in the yolk that’s so good for you? So many things.

[1] essential fatty acids.

Egg yolks are jam-packed with essential fatty acids like DHA which is important for brain development and mental health. The amount of essential fatty acids in an egg depends greatly on the source. An organic pastured egg from a chicken who ate insects + grass will have a significantly higher content of DHA compared to a conventionally-rasied chicken.

[2] carotenoids.

Egg yolks are an excellent source of carotenoids. Put simply, carotenoids are colorful red, yellow + orange plant pigments. They are what gives the high-quality egg it’s vibrant orange yolk. Carotenoids play an important role in overall health by supporting the eyes, skin and cardiovascular system. The carotenoids lutein + zeaxanthin found abundantly in egg yolks are highly absorbable forms of carotenoids. These nutrients are well known for their role in vision an overall eye health.

[3] fat-soluble vitamins [A, D, E, K].

Vitamins A, D, E and K are fat-soluble meaning that they require fat in order to be absorbed and used by the body. And what does the egg yolk contain? Healthy fats. If you’re skipping the egg yolk and opting for just the white, you’re missing out on these extremely important vitamins which can be difficult to obtain from the diet. So eat up.

[4] minerals such as calcium, iron, phosphorus + zinc.

Many Americans are mineral deficient without even knowing it. As the soil we grow food with continues to be depleted of many essential minerals, it’s important that we obtain them somewhere. Egg yolks are a great source of many minerals including: calcium, iron, phosphorus, zinc, copper, manganese + selenium. The white contains a good amount of both potassium and magnesium.

Hard boiling eggs in the oven.

Have you ever hard boiled your eggs in a pot of boiling water, just to find out that the fragile shell has cracked? I have one too many times. An easier, more efficient and better [in my opinion] way to hard boil eggs is in the oven.

What you need.

• 1 dozen organic, pastured eggs
• muffin tin

Here’s how.

[1] preheat your oven to 325 degrees.

[2] carefully place your eggs in a muffin tin.

[3] add eggs to oven and bake for 30 minutes.

[4] remove eggs from oven and add to an ice water bath for 5-10 minutes until they’ve cooled – don’t try and grab the eggs with your hands or you’ll get burned. I’ve found using tongs to transport the hot eggs to the ice water bath works best.

[5] dry eggs, add back to egg carton and refrigerate.

Have you tried hard boiling eggs in the oven? Did it change your life? Let me know 🙂