Southwestern Eggrolls

Yummy note: A new year, brings along a new Secret Recipe Club blogger to feature. It has been about 3.5 years since I've been involved in this recipe posting group, and have been lucky to review a wide variety of bloggers and different types of recipes. This month might have been one of the first blogs that I can remember having with the SRC that featured a variety of content on the blog, besides cooking. What fun this site was -  Jenna at The Painted Apron has an abundance of creativity and drive, not to mention tips, how-to's and more on this site, http://thepaintedapron.com/categories/  -  wow! Please make sure you stop by her blog, The Painted Apron and dive on it. You will just love Jenna's creative ideas and projects.  So I am a sucker for pizza and breads, so this recipe here almost won my heart, the creative use of breadsticks on this recipe and turning it into like a flower-shaped "pizza". Perhaps the kiddos might like it for Valentines. So Jenna has this series she does called Take Out Tuesday, which I got sucked into and finally decided to pick one from here, as everything was looking just amazing... southwestern eggrolls is something I've never really dabbled with trying to make, as I'm not an eggroll person, I would rather have like a potsticker, dumpling, or something a little smaller to nibble on for an appetizer. The filling for these eggrolls is fantastic and I was eating it just as a salsa towards the end of it!

Southwestern Eggrolls

Original recipe adapted from The Painted Apron

Ingredients: 

1/2 bag of fresh spinach 

1/2 cup shredded cheese, I like the Mexican variety best like Chihuahua

2 green onions, finely chopped

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp chili powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

12 wonton wrappers or 6 eggroll wrappers

1 bag (about 12 oz) of Fire Roasted Black Bean Blend frozen veggies (consisted of sweet corn, black beans, red and poblano peppers)  

OR 

1 ear corn

1/2 can of black beans, rinsed and drained

1/2 can of diced green chiles, drained

Directions: 

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Prep a baking sheet with aluminum foil and spray lightly with cooking spray. Heat the spinach, just slightly just until it begins to wilt. If you are using the prepared black bean veggie mix, microwave for about 1/2 of the time desired in the directions, just until it starts to thaw and cook partially. In a large bowl mix together the corn/bean/pepper mixture with the wilted spinach, cheese, onions, chiles, and seasonings. Prep your wonton wrappers or egg rolls and place a good spoonful of the filling near the center. Fold the sides in and then fold bottom over filling and close tightly. Tip- use a small amount of water near the corners of the eggroll/wonton to seal. Repeat with the remaining and place them slightly apart on the prepared baking sheet. You can also spray the tops of the eggrolls with cooking spray to help prevent them from drying out while baking. Bake for about 10 minutes of so for the smaller wonton bites, or closer to 15-20 minutes if you use larger egg roll wrappers. Make sure to flip them halfway through baking.

Quick tip- I found these frozen veggies and used this as a replacement for the canned beans and chiles since I couldn't find any fresh corn this time of year. It was a fantastic substitution. 

Mix all ingredients together. 

I could eat this here with a spoon... can you say, Salsa!?!

I easily made dairy-free versions, by leaving out the cheese in some and replacing it with a substitute as well. 

Make sure to place enough filling towards the center so your appetizer doesn't explode!

Ready to bake! So pretty looking with the veggies inside. 

Your crispy southwestern eggrolls are done! 

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