Some of us have the idea that mayonnaise is unhealthy; most don’t know why. Almost all store-bought mayonnaise sneaks sugar and inflammatory seed oils into your diet—even the “made with olive oil” has canola or safflower as the first oil on the ingredients list with a dash of healthy olive oil. And, well, that is just bad news from a transfat and unhealthy fat standpoint.
And about those eggs… quality, whether or not they are inflammatory, or allergenic, depends on how the hens were raised and what they were fed.
- Conventional eggs: These are your standard supermarket eggs. The hens that lay these eggs are usually fed grain, supplemented with vitamins and minerals, and confined to cages.
- Organic eggs: These hens cannot be treated with hormones and received organic feed—they can be fed solely organic grains and soy and kept in cages.
- Pastured eggs: Chickens are allowed to roam free, eating plants and insects (their natural food) along with some commercial feed. It can be difficult for ranchers to label these organic yet most are if only due to how the farms care for their animals.
- Omega-3-enriched eggs: Basically, they’re like conventional chickens except that their feed is supplemented with an omega-3 source like flax seeds. May have had some access to the outside if labelled pastured.
- Bulk eggs: often cleaned thoroughly in chorine. Doing so removes the natural waxy coat on each egg leaving a porous shell. In other words, the chlorine goes into the egg.
Don’t eliminate good mayo from your diet. Get good eggs, skip the added sugar, and make your own in under 5 minutes. It’s very easy, saves tons of money, and provides amazing taste and nutritional benefits. Don’t want to make your own? Purchase mayonnaise like this or this. Making your own is far less costly.
Makes ½ Cup
Ingredients
1 egg yolk
½ teaspoon powdered mustard
1½ teaspoon fresh lemon juice
¼ cup mild olive oil or avocado oil
¼ cup coconut oil
Preparation
1. Coconut oil is naturally solid at room temperature. Place the jar of coconut oil in a pan of hot water; heat to melt enough oil for this recipe.
2. While the oil is heating, use a Magic Bullet
3. Add half the olive oil to the egg mixture and pulse to blend.
4. Add remaining olive oil and pulse—the point of pulsing in batches is to emulsify the oil and egg mixture so it does not separate.
5. Add half the coconut oil and pulse.
6. Repeat with the final amount of coconut oil. As the coconut oil returns to room temperature, the mixture will thicken and the consistency become perfect.
Variations
Use as a base for dressings, marinades, more…! Add 1 teaspoon curry powder and ½ teaspoon paprika to make a zesty curry dip. Shown here with lox and capers on cucumber slices. Enjoy!!
