This week I’m going to author a book on 1001 things you can do while sitting at a track meet! I’m only joking! I’m enjoying every minute of watching our son, Phillip, at his meets. Except the night where I froze to death. I’m working on alternative forms of portable heat at this time.
When our family journeyed out to Colorado a few weeks ago we traveled with a couple dozen of these southwest Eggrolls. The original recipe is from my assistant, Bonnie Strickland. Bonnie journeyed into a leading restaurant chain a few years ago, ordered these, came home and re-created. They were served deep fat fried, but we tend to bake ours for health reasons. Not only can these delicious eggrolls go in the oven, the best yet is they’re great in the freezer. Nothing beats meals from the freezer that are healthy and filling.
Bonnie spent around 30 years of her life in the great state of Texas. The other day we determined that about 80% of her meals fall into southwest cuisine. One of Bonnie’s best tips is to purchase the thinnest flour tortillas as possible for the eggrolls. The thicker brands make them hard to wrap.
After you’ve made the dish a time or two start modifying it to fit your situations and likes/dislikes. For example these are made with chicken. Pulled pork or even beef would also work. The beans could be switched out to something that pleases your palate. My sis, Judy, suggested we take out the heat! If the hot spices bother you, just use half as much. I found that the cilantro was very very mild once it was cooked and inside the roll. My husband, Ervin, doesn’t care for this herb and he enjoys the recipe.
Let’s chatter about peppers for a moment. You’ll be using some jalapenos, remember if you leave the vein, inside the jalapeno, they will still be very hot. If it is removed along with the seeds it won’t be very spicy.
Since its garden time, let’s take a moment to visit about hot peppers and sweet peppers. If you plant hot peppers in your garden and also plant sweet peppers the sweet peppers will be rather hot and the hot peppers rather sweet. Due to cross pollination you should expect this from peppers. I had a professional jalapeno grower at the culinary school for class one day. He stated sweet peppers needed to be a few miles away or it would be a risk to his crop. If you throw a jalapeno in a Ziploc bag with sweet peppers they will also do the same thing!
Calorie wise this dish is going to be pretty low until you add the pepper jack cheese. At work we wrap the tortillas and flash freeze them. Place them inside a freezer bag and there you go. We’ve also wrapped each eggroll in saran wrap first. A few guests ask why we don’t use the corn tortillas. They will crack upon rolling so it’s not a good idea.
For after school snacks we wrap our mixture in ‘taco’ or ‘fajita’ size shells. For a main entrée we go with the larger sizes. Accompany this dish with salsa, avocado, sour cream, or all three! A nice bowl of Mexican soup or salad will go nicely for the full meal effect.
If you’re taking a meal to a shut-in or friend these are better than a casserole! Since they’re wrapped individually you just take out what you need. Also great in a lunchbox for work.
Tomorrow appears to be a day of ‘cooking’ at my house. A couple of new dishes need to be completed, and Ervin has a ‘carry-in’ at the bank. Have an outstanding week. Simply yours, The Covered Dish. www.thecovereddish.com
Southwest Chicken Eggrolls
3 tablespoons olive oil
2/3 cup red pepper chopped fine
1 onion chopped fine
4 cups cooked chicken diced and seasoned with salt & pepper
1 1/2 cups cooked black beans drained
2 cups fresh spinach chopped fine
1 cup frozen corn
1/3 cup jalapenos chopped fine
2 1/2 teaspoons cumin
2 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
1 tsp garlic powder
1/3 cup finely chopped cilantro
12 oz. shredded pepper jack cheese
Flour Tortillas
Heat 3 tablespoons olive oil in a large skillet. Add red peppers, onions, jalapenos and corn. Cook until tender. Stir in cooked chicken, black beans and spinach. Add cumin, chili powder, and cayenne and garlic powder. Stir and cook until thick; stir in cilantro, melt in cheese.
Using medium soft taco size flour tortillas, place 1/3 cup of filling into the center of the tortilla. Fold the side edges in and roll tightly. Wrap each in plastic wrap and place on a cookie sheet. Freeze overnight. Then place in Ziploc freezer bag and put back in the freezer.
Monterey Jack can be used if Pepper Jack is too spicy. To bake place frozen unwrapped eggrolls on a jelly roll pan. Bake at 350 degrees until golden brown and crispy. Approximately 30 minutes. Could also be deep fried.
Serve with a sauce mixture of sour cream, salsa of choice and guacamole.
Bonnie started in 2015 as my assistant. I’ve gained a great cook & friend.
The staff says we’re foodie trouble. We’re both creative and we throw something new around on a daily basis.
