Southwestern Egg Rolls

Sometimes it’s so much fun to eat dinner with your hands. It’s even more fun when what you’re eating is as delicious as these “egg rolls” (which are really just chimichangas, but it’s fun calling them egg rolls) are. No, they’re not the healthiest dinner option, not by a long shot -- but that makes it even more fun to eat like this every once in a while, right?

We all really liked these. They came together really easily, and the filling had a ton of flavor. I made the egg rolls themselves on Saturday morning so they’d have time to freeze, and then dinner Saturday night only took about 10 minutes to prepare. There’s just something I love about biting into a crispy tortilla that’s been filled with cheesy, spicy goodness. Deee-licious.

You should know that the original recipe calls for small amounts of many ingredients -- frozen chopped spinach, red bell pepper, black beans, corn, etc. But you'll see that in my version, I used more chicken, an entire box of frozen chopped spinach, an entire red pepper, and whole cans of black beans and corn, and adjusted the seasonings accordingly. I froze the part of the mixture I didn’t use. I did this so I wouldn’t just have random half-used things in my refrigerator, and also so I’d have the mixture on hand to make these again in the future. And I can't wait to make them again!

Southwestern Eggrolls
source: adapted from Allrecipes

2 cups cooked shredded chicken
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
4 minced green onions, green and white parts included
1 red bell pepper, minced
1 can corn, drained
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 10-ounce box frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
2 tablespoons diced jalapeno peppers
1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
6-inch flour tortillas

1. Heat 1 tablespoon vegetable oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir in green onion and red pepper. Cook and stir 5 minutes, until tender.

2. Add chicken to the pan and mix in corn, black beans, spinach, jalapeno peppers, cilantro, cumin, chili powder, and salt. Cook and stir 5 minutes, until well blended and tender. Set aside half of the filling to cool and freeze. Remove remaining filling from heat and stir in Monterey Jack cheese so that it melts.

3. Wrap tortillas with a clean, lightly moist cloth. Microwave on high approximately 1 minute, or until hot and pliable.

4. Spoon even amounts of the mixture into each tortilla. Fold ends of tortillas, then roll tightly around mixture. Secure with toothpicks. Arrange in a medium dish, cover with plastic, and place in the freezer. Freeze at least 4 hours.

5. In a large, deep skillet, heat oil for deep frying to 375 degrees. Deep fry frozen, stuffed tortillas 10 minutes each, or until dark golden brown. Drain on paper towels before serving.