W.O.W. Look-a-like: A little Chili's when it's chilly...

We encountered another snow day yesterday and I, of course, spent most of my down time figuring out what I could create in the kitchen.  I will preface this Chili's remake by saying Blake and I do not eat out at Chili's very often 1. because it's not good for you 2. it's always crowded with "mall folk" and 3. there are SO many better places to eat.  That being said every once in awhile when we're lazy and craving grease it fits the bill.  Our go to appetizer is their Southwestern Eggrolls.  They are an eggroll filled with blackbeans, corn, red bell pepper, chicken, cheese, a blend of southwest spices, etc.  They are deep fried and served with a spicy ranch.  Good-yes.  Good for you-NO.  Because of our love for these little nuggets and my urge to be able to eat them I came up with these. 

Blaked Southwestern Eggrolls

Num, num, num!  They turned out really well.  The only thing I would change is that I would flip them half way through the cooking time so that one side didn't cook slighly darker than the other. 

Since I was home all day yesterday I took the time to take pictures of all of the steps.  Having daylight helps tremendously with this.  They aren't all perfect, but they certainly help you get the idea of how making them works.  The mixture contains cooked diced chicken, bacon, corn, black beans, red bell pepper, jalenpeno, spinach, pepper jack cheese, cumin, chili powder, cayenne, garlic powder, s&p.  Cook the diced bacon first until crispy, remove it from the pan.  Add the diced chicken and cook through.  To the chicken add 2/3 of a cup of corn and drained and rinsed black beans.  Add 1/2 diced red bell pepper, 1 diced jalepeno, and one package of frozen spinach that has been defrosted and squeezed of all excess water.  Add bacon back in.  One teaspoon each of chili powder and cumin.  Dash of cayenne, garlic powder, s&p.  After everything has cooked together for 5-7 minutes over medium heat remove the pan from the heat and stir in a cup and a half of shredded pepper jack cheese.  Allow mixture to cool slightly and start stuffin'!  Here is the mixture after it has cooked all together:

Place the eggroll wrapper in front of you laying so that it looks like a diamond.  Next place about 3 tablespoons of mixture in the middle of the eggroll wrapper. 

Fold the corner closest to you over the mixture.  Pull the two sides in over the first flap.  It will look like an open envelope at this point.  Wet the top corner with a little water and roll all the way up.

Place a cooling rack on a parchment lined cookie sheet, spray with non-stick spray, and place the eggrolls.

I like to use a cooling rack on the cookie sheet so that the heat in the oven can circulate all the way around the eggrolls.  No one wants soggy rolls.  Bake at 400 degrees for 12-14 minutes flipping half way through the cooking time.  I served them with low fat avacado ranch and it was delish.  These would have been perfect for the super bowl, but we already had too much on the menu.  I would dare to say that any time you need a good appetizer to share these would be much appreciated. 

Mangia!

Xo-Wife of Wright