Rollin' Rollin'

My mother-in-law got me a Cooking Light subscription for Christmas. I was really excited. I like their recipes a ton, primarily because I find them delicious. The first time I had even looked through some was at my sister-in-law's last Christmas. Since then, I've been hooked. They are just plain yummy and I'd recommend them to you all.

*note: I am not paid by Cooking Light. They don't even know I exist beyond the fact that now they mail me a magazine. But I'll still push 'em on ya. I'm good for free advertising like that.

So this is one of the new favorites in our house. I had it saved in my electronic recipe box for a while, but never got the chance to try it. I LOVE Chinese food. It's probably the second most missed food on my "Foods I Miss From NJ" (right after gyros, or just about anything from a diner). I have often eaten  leftover egg rolls for breakfast; they are more tasty that way, I promise.

So anyway, I found this recipe and thought I had to give it a try - a baked alternative to the grease laden fried version. I was skeptical, but I had to know, would it be good? Well, I assure you, friend, yes! Yes they are good.

Dan even went so far as to say that he likes them even better than the real thing. WHAT!? I told him to close that lying mouth, and to stop speaking falsehood. But there's a testimonial for you.

Oh, I should probably mention that I find it hard to ever follow a recipe exactly, so I'll put some notes in italics along the way...

BAKED EGG ROLLS

Egg rolls:
2/3 cup coarsely chopped celery   - I omit the celery
2/3 cup coarsely chopped carrot  - and just shred up a bunch of carrots. Like 1 1/2 cups.
2 cups shredded cabbage  - and increase this too. In fact, I've read notes that some use cole slaw mix
1/2 teaspoon vegetable oil
2/3 cup chopped onion
1/2 teaspoon minced peeled fresh ginger  - I use ground because it's what I have
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 pound ground turkey breast
1 1/2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
14 egg roll wrappers
1 large egg white
Cooking spray

Sauce:    We don't even use the sauce, so I can't attest to its tastiness
3/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
6 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons dark sesame oil
1 tablespoon minced peeled fresh ginger
1/3 cup thinly sliced green onions (optional)

Preheat oven to 425°.

Combine celery and carrot in food processor, and pulse 10 times or until finely chopped.
Since I use shredded carrot, I skip that step up there

Combine celery mixture and cabbage in a medium bowl. Cover with plastic wrap; vent. Microwave at high 5 minutes; drain.

Heat vegetable oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion, 1/2 teaspoon ginger, and garlic; sauté 2 minutes. Add turkey; cook 5 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in cabbage mixture, 1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce, and pepper. Cover and chill 15 minutes.

Place 1 egg roll wrapper at a time onto work surface with 1 corner pointing toward you (wrapper should look like a diamond). Trim 1 inch off right and left corners of wrapper. I don't trim. It seems totally unnecessary to me

Spoon 3 tablespoons turkey filling into center of wrapper. Fold lower corner of egg roll wrapper over filling.

Fold in trimmed corners. Moisten top corner of wrapper with egg white I use water here instead; roll up jelly-roll fashion. Repeat procedure with remaining wrappers, turkey filling, and egg white.

Lightly coat egg rolls with cooking spray, and place, seam side down, on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Bake at 425° for 18 minutes or until golden brown.

To prepare sauce, combine 3/4 cup soy sauce, vinegar, sesame oil, and 1 tablespoon ginger; serve with egg rolls. Garnish with green onions, if desired.


Yield:  14 servings (serving size: 1 roll and about 1 tablespoon sauce)

CALORIES 79 (29% from fat); FAT 2.5g (sat 0.4g,mono 0.9g,poly 1.1g); IRON 0.9mg; CHOLESTEROL 11mg; CALCIUM 18mg; CARBOHYDRATE 8g; SODIUM 532mg; PROTEIN 5.7g; FIBER 0.7g

Cooking Light, MARCH 2001