Not Healthy: Egg Beaters Hollandaise Sauce

I really enjoy eggs benedict, which is a mostly healthy breakfast made really unhealthy with the addition of hollandaise sauce. Hollandaise is basically egg yolks, lemon juice and butter blended smooth and heated just enough to warm it. It can be tricky because it has a habit of breaking if it isn't blended well enough or allowed to get too hot. This recipe is probably the easiest recipe I've come across. It uses egg beaters (or other egg substitutes) which means it's a lot of egg whites rather than pure egg yolk. It has the benefit of not breaking as easily but it's not quite as rich in flavor or thick as a proper hollandaise. Nevertheless, it's very easy to make--almost foolproof--and useful for those of us who keep egg beaters in the house.

The key technique here is properly mixing hot butter (or margarine) into the egg/lemon mixture to a smooth consistency. Often you want to use a blender or food processor but if you have neither or don't want to deal with cleaning it then you can certainly use a mixing bowl and small whisk. You just need to really work to blend the ingredients to a smooth emulsion.

If you finish the hollandaise too quickly you can keep it warm on a double boiler on the stove for up to ten minutes. It's easiest to make this while meat is resting (if serving on meat) or while your eggs are cooking for a breakfast dish.

Egg Beaters Hollandaise Sauce

Servings: ?? (makes one cup)
Prep time: 2 minutes
Cook time: 1 minute

Equipment:

• Mixing bowls
• Kitchen utensils
• Microwave and small microwave-safe bowl (or alternatively small saucepan on stove)
• Blender, food processor or whisk

Ingredients:

• 6 tbsp egg beaters
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• Black pepper
• 1/2 cup butter or margarine

Directions:

1. Blend together egg beaters, lemon juice and dash of black pepper until smooth. 
2. Melt butter or margarine until it is liquid and hot but before it separates (test every fifteen seconds in the microwave). While doing this continue to blend the egg beater mixture to keep smooth.
3. Pour in melted butter or margarine slowly and continue to blend until smooth.