Baked Southwestern Egg Rolls

I'm always trying to find new recipes that both my hubby and I will like. See, I'm a vegetarian... my husband is NOT. Since officially becoming a vegetarian almost 3 years ago I've become much more open minded about trying new flavors, new textures, and new 'genres' of food. As a healthy vegetarian you HAVE to expand your horizons. If I didn't expand my food choices I'd be living off of macaroni and cheese, PB&J sandwiches, soup, and cheese pizza. I used to be afraid of trying new things, my husband still is. A lot of times I'll make a new recipe and I'll love it. Jeff won't. He'll pick out all the 'good stuff' and declare that it's not his favorite dish I've ever made. I keep trying, though, and the ones that he DOES like? They get printed out, kept in my recipe book, to make over and over.


These southwest egg rolls are one of my victory recipes. Every time I make them Jeff mentions, at least twice, how good they are. Full disclosure: he also comments on all the 'green stuff' inside, but he doesn't pick it out and still says he loves them. So, he eats them, and he eats green stuff. Win win.


I will give you the recipe as I found it on annies-eats.com, but know that it's extremely customizable. I made it by the recipe the first 5+ times I made it, but then one day I had some ground beef that needed to be used up before it went bad, so I made the recipe by the book and then split it in half and added the browned hamburger meat to one half of it. That way, I got my vegetarian egg rolls, but Hubs got his with some meat inside. He was REALLY in heaven that night! Also, if I plan ahead I like to pick up some cilantro at the store and add it, because..... cilantro is delicious. But it's not in the recipe. I've also been known to add some leftover brown rice to them. Helps bulk them up (read: you get more egg rolls at the end of it!) Please believe, they are good just as the original recipe is written. And they're easy. Give them a try, you will not be disappointed. And if when you decide that you love them, go ahead and start adding in extras!


I made them last night and took some pictures of the process. Last night's egg rolls had an about 1 cup of leftover brown rice, about a fistful of fresh chopped cilantro, and half of them had browned ground elk meat.

They also re-heat well.  In the microwave - 30 seconds, flip, 30 seconds. done. They lose their crunch in the microwave, but they're still delish.  Or, you can wrap them in some aluminum foil and re-heat them in the oven.... 300*F for 10-15 mins should be good, and they'll still be crunchy.

Enjoy! :)

Here is the recipe (from annies-eats.com):

INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups frozen corn, thawed
• 1 (15 oz.) can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 (10 oz.) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
• 2 cups shredded Mexican cheese blend
• 1 (4 oz.) can diced green chiles, drained
• 4 green onions, chopped

• 1 tsp. ground cumin
• ½ tsp. chili powder
• 1 tsp. salt
• ½ tsp. pepper
• ¼ tsp. cayenne pepper
• 1 package egg roll wrappers (about 24 total)

In a large bowl, combine everything but the egg roll wrappers. Mix well to blend. Lay an egg roll wrapper out on a work surface so that one of the corners is pointing toward you and place ¼ cup of the filling in the center. Fold the tip closest to you up over the filling, roll a bit, then take the points pointing outward and fold them in toward the center. Continue rolling into an egg roll shape until a small part of the remaining point is still free. Dip a finger in water or beaten egg and lightly brush on the edges of the free corner. Finish rolling and press to seal closed. Repeat with the remaining wrappers and filling.

Preheat the oven to 425˚ F. Lightly oil a baking sheet with cooking spray. Place the sealed egg rolls on the baking sheet seam side down and spray the tops of the egg rolls with cooking spray. Bake for about 15 minutes, or until lightly brown, turning halfway through baking. Serve warm with salsa.