Summer entertaining can be easy with dips and appetizers that you can prepare quickly, with the help of hard-cooked eggs.

Cooking the eggs in advance is a convenient time-saver. You can keep them in the fridge for recipes, meals or snacks, using the hard-cooked eggs within a week.

	EGG DIP WITH VEGGIES
	Prep. time: 15 min. 4 Servings.
	4 hard-cooked eggs, peeled and chopped 1/3 cup/75 mL low-fat plain yogurt 2 tbsp /25 mL light mayonnaise or salad dressing 2 tbsp/25 mL chopped green onion 1 tbsp/15 mL chopped fresh dill (or 1 tsp/5 mL dried) 1 tbsp/15 mL chopped fresh basil (or 1 tsp/5 mL dried) 1 tsp/5 mL Dijon mustard 1/4 tsp/1 mL salt 1/4 tsp/1 mL garlic powder 1/8 tsp/0.5 mL cayenne pepper
	Purée eggs in food processor or blender. Add yogurt, mayonnaise, green onion, dill, basil, Dijon mustard, salt, garlic powder and cayenne pepper; process until smooth. Cover and refrigerate until serving time. Serve with vegetables (e.g., sweet pepper strips, celery or carrot sticks, cucumber slices, broccoli or cauliflower florets, cherry tomatoes and mushrooms), pita bread wedges or bread sticks. Dip can be refrigerated for up to 3 days.
	Nutrients per serving Calories, 113. Fat, 8 g. Saturated fat, 2 g. Trans fat, 0 g. Sodium, 294 mg. Carbohydrate, 3 g. Fibre, 0 g. Sugars, 2 g. Protein, 7 g.

With hard-cooked eggs on hand, you may need only about five minutes to make Egg Salad Dip, combining four finely chopped eggs with low-fat plain yogurt, Dijon mustard, chopped green onion, dill and basil.

Also check out Egg Dip with Veggies, which may take about 15 minutes to prepare. You can refrigerate it for up to three days, so you could make it the night before a get-together with family or friends.

Summer is a great time to enjoy dips with fresh, locally-grown vegetables. Perhaps you also will want to serve whole-grain crackers or pita-bread wedges.

You can use hard-cooked eggs to make Basic Devilled Eggs or one of the variations, such as Smoked Salmon Devilled Eggs or Devilled Eggs with Shrimp and Olives. They may be ready in about 10 or 15 minutes.

Egg and Tomato Bruschetta may take about 15 minutes, using the barbecue or oven.

These and other recipes from Nova Scotia Egg Producers and Egg Farmers of Canada are available at www.nsegg.ca, where you also can find how-to videos.