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It looks like some folks figured out how to make an omelet without having to break any eggs — any of their own eggs, at least.
I was going to include this fun bit of news as a small bite in our weekly email newsletter, but I decided it’s a bit bigger than a nibble:
Egg giant Cal-Maine reports record profit growth
Avian flu might have you paying $10 for a dozen basic supermarket eggs…and that’s what the country’s largest egg producers are literally banking on.
Between price hikes and hundreds of millions of dollars in USDA bailout money, at least one large-scale egg company is reporting record profits this year. (Yes, this is the same USDA that just stripped funding for food assistance programs and school meals last week.)
Pre-bird flu, Cal-Maine, which produces 20% of American eggs and was already fined in December 2023 for price gouging, averaged quarterly profits of around $5 million, but over the past year, that average has jumped to $169 million per quarter (egg production went up by less than 10% during that period and chicken feed costs remained stable). According to my math, that’s a 3,280% profit increase (they were previously fined when their profits grew by 718%).
But hey, look on the bright side — you can always wax some onions for your Easter basket, right? And you can make an egg and cress sandwich — a springtime classic with high tea vibes for days — with tofu instead.
This recipe, a blatant copycat of the tofu pate known by every crunchy Oregonian with a bag of dry pita chips, is packed with protein and if you use eggless mayo, completely vegan. I used Ota tofu because it’s superior to anything else in stores (and made in Portland for more than a century, it’s America’s oldest tofu company, which makes me beam with local pride). While I prefer the jalapeño variety of Eugene-based Toby’s tofu pate (it’s now technically called “Dip & Spread” but I can’t stop deadnaming it), you can keep it mild if you like the traditional British version better.
Ingredients
Makes 4 sandwiches
1 (~1 pound) block firm or extra firm tofu (preferably Ota brand)
½ cup mayonnaise
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons nooch (nutritional yeast)
1 teaspoon sea salt
A few pinches of ground black pepper
½ teaspoon turmeric
½ teaspoon paprika
1 rib celery, finely minced
⅓ cup minced white or sweet onion (about ¼ of a medium onion)
2 tablespoons minced parsley
½ jalapeño, seeds removed, finely chopped (optional)
4 tablespoons room-temperature butter
8 slices bread (crusts removed if you prefer)
2 cups garden cress, watercress or Greek cress (arugula or radish sprouts are good substitutes), coarsely chopped
Instructions
- Drain the tofu and gently press it between kitchen towels to remove excess water. In a large bowl or food processor, mash the tofu into a slightly chunky, spreadable consistency with the mayo, mustard, nooch, salt, pepper, turmeric and paprika. Stir in the celery, onions, parsley and jalapeño (if using) until fully combined.
- Thinly spread ½ tablespoon of butter on each slice of bread, then spoon the tofu mixture onto four slices of bread, add a handful of cress to each sandwich and top with the other slices of bread, gently pressing to close the sandwiches.
- Slice each sandwich as you prefer — diagonal is classic but rectangular finger sandwiches are cute for a tea party or picnic.