Southwestern Style Baked Eggrolls

Do you love Chilis?  Because I love Chilis.  I’m not sure why…there’s very little there that could constitute a “healthy” meal…but it’s all so friggin’ DELICIOUS!

And Chili’s Southwest Egg Rolls are my Achille’s heel. My Pandora’s box.  My Kryptonite.  My Vader.

However, an entire plate of these bad boys (3 whole egg rolls) will set you back about 800 calories.  Which is a little more than half of the calories I normally try to eat in a day…that’s a bit much for one meal.

And since the Irish egg rolls I made a while back went over so well, I figured I could try my hand at this treat too.  The result?  Completely delicious, crispy, Chili’s-wishes-they-were-this-awesome eggrolls with HALF the calories of the original.

Ingredients: (makes 12 egg rolls)

1 cup sweet corn

1/2 can (about a cup) canned black beans, rinsed & drained

1 link spicy smoked turkey sausage (optional—you could also use grilled chicken; we added meat so it would be a more complete item to eat as a meal)

5 oz chopped spinach, thawed & squeezed dry (we actually didn’t have this in the house, so I improvised with some chopped cabbage.  Definitely not the same, but it works in a pinch.)

2/3 cup light shredded cheese, mexican blend if you can find it

2 oz (about 1/4 cup) diced green chiles, or diced pickled jalapenos

1 tsp dried green onion or chives

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp chili powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cracked black pepper

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1/2 package of egg roll wrappers (12 wrappers)

light cooking spray (like Pam)

 

Directions:

Heat your oven to 425F.

In a large skillet, combine the chopped cabbage and sausage (if you’re choosing to include these items…if you have frozen spinach and/or are not including meat, you can skip this step).

 

Once the cabbage is softened & the meat is warmed through, remove from heat & add the remaining ingredients, minus the egg rolls.  Toss to combine.

Lay an egg roll wrapper on a clean, dry plate, and place a small cup of water off to the side, to use when sealing the edges.   Spoon about 1/4 cup of filling into the center of the wrapper. 

Fold the bottom triangle up, then roll the two sides in, and then roll up toward the top triangle.  Wet the edges of the top triangle to seal. (see the photos in my Irish Egg Rolls entry if you’re having trouble getting the rolling down.)

Grab a metal cookie sheet and lightly spritz with cooking spray.  Place your egg rolls on the tray, and then lightly spritz those as well (it helps them get nice & golden while baking).

Bake for 10 minutes on one side, then flip, and bake for another 5-10 minutes or until golden brown & crispy.

 

And of course, you’re going to want to dunk these in something, right?

Try this out:

1/2 pack Ranch seasoning

1 cup fat free sour cream

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp chili powder

Or, if creamy sauces aren’t up your aisle, go with your favorite salsa.

Makes 4 servings, 3 egg rolls per serving.

Let’s see how it compares, shall we? (Bear in mind that the Chili’s version doesn’t have meat in it.)

 

NutriFacts: (per serving)

Calories 368.0

  Total Fat 7.0 g

  Saturated Fat 2.9 g

  Polyunsaturated Fat 1.2 g

  Monounsaturated Fat 1.2 g

  Cholesterol 38.4 mg

  Sodium 1,198.2 mg

  Potassium 438.6 mg

  Total Carbohydrate 57.2 g

  Dietary Fiber 7.4 g

  Sugars 3.2 g

  Protein 22.6 g

 

Calories in the ranch dip (2 tbsp): 30 (0.4g fat)