This Easter I wanted to try my hand at Deviled Eggs. My Mom usually makes them, but since I was hosting, I wanted to do my own version.

Finding inspiration online for the coloring, and also the varieties of filling, I came up with something of my own using ingredients I had on hand. You can certainly make substitutes depending on what's available to you.

They look cute, and have an interesting and wonderful flavor.

Nutrition, taste, and uniqueness are all wrapped up into one package with these crowd-pleasing appetizers!

Supplies

Chicken eggs, 10-12.

Food dye

Bowls for dyeing egg whites in

White vinegar

Egg cooker or pot for boiling water

Chickpeas

Vodka

measuring cups/spoons

mini food processor(optional)

Mayo

Mustard

salt

Kimchi or pickles

Paprika or chili powder

Step 1: Cook Eggs

Some people boil their eggs in a pot

Others even cook them in an Instant Pot(pressure cooker)

I have an egg cooker, and love it. I actually have two; this one is a little bigger and can do 10 eggs at once.

You place the eggs in the indentations, pierce the egg top with provided spike, add varying water amount to achieve soft to hard(it also poaches and cooks omelets), turn on and that's it. It automatically shuts off when water is gone.

I like to put them in a bowl of cold water, and place into fridge. This stops them from cooking any further.

I like medium-boiled for deviled eggs.

Peeling eggs

Tap eggs gently on a hard surface, all around the egg. Carefully pull away the egg shell. I would also recommend pulling away the thin membrane if you plan on dying them. Color comes out more consistent.

Slice eggs exactly in half, lengthwise.

Place yolks in a bowl, this will be used in the filling recipe.

Try to remove all of the yolk, as some left behind will also affect the dyeing process.

Step 2: Dye Egg Whites

Get 4 small bowls, glass or ceramic is best.

Add 10 drops of each color to each bowl, for purple 5 red and 5 blue.

Add 1 Tbsp of white vinegar, stirring, add enough water to fill bowl halfway. Stir.

Add 4-6 egg halves to each bowl. The eggs should be submerged; add more water if necessary.

Gently stir the eggs around. Do this occasionally, every few minutes.

For a light pastel, 5-10 minutes should be good(they will dry a little darker than they initially appear)

For a saturated color, it may take up to 30 minutes.

While waiting, let's make the filling....

Step 3: Puree Chickpeas

Besides just the yolks and mayo/mustard, you'll also add chickpeas and... vodka!

If you don't want the vodka thing, you can also use pre-made hummus instead. : )

First puree the chickpeas. I used a magic bullet. There is not enough moisture in the chickpeas, so you need 2 oz of liquid, or vodka to produce a creamy puree.

Step 4: Make Egg Filling

Mash up egg yolks. A pastry blender or two folks works well.

To that add 1/4 cup of mayo. I used Primal Kitchen's chipotle lime.

Add 2 Tbsp of Dijon mustard

And add two pinches of salt

Combine thoroughly

Step 5: Combine Mixtures, Add Kimchi, Chill

Now combine the chickpea and the yolk mixtures

Some people add pickles to deviled eggs, I thought mild kimchi would be nice, and extra nutritious.

Chop the kimchi so that all the strands are small bits

Add to filling

If you need to put in fridge because you are doing this ahead of when you need them, place saran wrap over the mixture, touching it, and secure around bowl.

Eggs should be nice and dark at this point...

Step 6: Dry Eggs and Fill

Allow the excess water from the eggs to be absorbed by a couple of paper towels.

I did this the night before, so I also covered with saran and put them in the fridge. No problems, dyed looked just the same.

You should not make the deviled eggs too far ahead of when you'll be serving them to your guests. Best to fill the bottoms with the filling no more than one hour before serving, then pop in fridge for 1/2 hour.

You want to put something on the serving plate so the eggs won't slide around.

I used shredded coconut. (You can save it after, no reason to throw away, though I did put it in the fridge)

It looked beautiful and did the trick!

For a final detail I sprinkled chipotle chili powder on top.

Looks like paprika but gives a tiny kick.

My family loved them, and these would be a big hit at a spring-themed party.

Now that you know how easy it is to dye the whites, inspiration abounds! You could adapt these for any season or holiday, changing up the color schemes to fit.