Typically, I keep a lot of the same foods stocked in my kitchen. Unless I'm due for a shopping trip, I always have sweet potatoes, eggs, mushrooms, some sort of green leafy vegetable like spinach, kale, or Swiss chard (I grow the last two), ingredients for tacos, and multiple types of beans and grains. Those ingredients go a long way in throwing a quick meal together!
You will also find ingredients that make Mexican- or Southwestern-inspired foods. I've always enjoyed those flavors anyway, but, living with a vegetarian, I find that those flavors lend well to easy, meatless meals; I just sub black beans in his. Taco Tuesday is an institution in our home, and I also occasionally throw together burritos and bowls inspired by a certain chain, and black bean burgers. The flavor profile is always basically the same so I don't have to do a lot of thinking.
I've always been a fan of anything in wrapper or skin: egg rolls, spring rolls, potstickers won tons...it seems like a lot of my favorite foods come in some sort of package. I've been wanting to try to make an eggroll with my favorite flavors, so I thought I'd give it a shot!
Ingredients:
Egg Roll Wrappers (I used two packs)
Chicken Thighs (you can use chicken breasts as well)
1 can of black beans or about 1 cup of cooked beans
1 C of frozen corn, thawed
1 C frozen chopped spinach, thawed
1/2 cup finely chopped red bell pepper
1 jalapeño pepper, finely chopped
3 cloves of garlic (mine were large cloves, but feel free to use less or more to taste)
1/8 C chopped green onions
1 pack taco seasoning (optional)
1/2 C shredded cheese (I used sharp cheddar)
Cumin
Chili powder
Cayenne pepper
Salt pepper
I tend to buy chicken thighs instead of chicken breasts because they're usually less expensive and more flavorful. I initially cooked three and then cooked the other two because I didn't think I had enough. Salt and pepper them on both sides and cook them in a little olive oil on medium heat. Once they're finished, dice them into small pieces and put them back in the pan with your taco seasoning. Follow the directions on the back of your taco seasoning; some use 2/3c of water, but mine only required 1/2c.
If you're a little more organized than I am, prep the rest of your ingredients ahead of time, if not, you can prep while your chicken is cooking.
A quick word about the beans: I typically use dry black beans but I used these because I happened to have them. I rinse any canned beans at least 3 times, and I didn't salt the filling since the beans were canned.
Preheat your oven to 400°. Mix the rest of your ingredients in a bowl. I used a table spoon to fill the egg roll wrappers. Don't over fill them, or you'll risk tearing the wrappers.
The directions for how to fill the wrappers were on the back of the package. It's really simple; place the wrapper diagonally, fold up the bottom corner over the filling, fold in the side corners, and then use a little water on your finger to wet the last corner and roll the wrapper up. Keep the wrappers seam side down.
Since the King isn't a meat eater, I used half of my filling before adding the chicken to roll a dozen vegetarian rolls. I mixed most of the chicken into what was left. In retrospect, I could have used 4 chicken thighs.
I decided to bake my eggrolls instead of frying them, so I lined two cookie sheets with aluminum foil and drizzled both with olive oil. When I put the eggrolls on the cookie sheets, I rolled them over in the olive oil to coat them. Bake them for 15-20 minutes. I baked them for 10, flipped them, and then baked them an additional 10 minutes.
As an afterthought I decided to throw together a dipping sauce using things I already had in the fridge. I had half a 24 oz tub of Greek yogurt and I mixed in two ripe, mashed avocados, the juice from half a lime, a pinch of kosher salt, about 5 dashes of hot sauce, and some finely chopped cilantro. It was a good, quick little sauce!
I'm pleased with my first run at Southwestern style Eggrolls. I'll definitely make them again! I hope you try them out and enjoy them!
Until next time!
Camielle
