Southwestern Eggrolls for Superbowl

It's the end of football season, and I can't necessarily say I'm sad to see it go. I'm looking forward to getting my Sunday back. During football season the games dictate what church service we go to, and when we can run errands, and what we watch on TV (obviously). With one TV in the house...well, you get the picture.

To celebrate the BIG Superbowl Game (and the end of football season) I think you should make these Southwestern Eggrolls. They are an exact replica of the Southwestern Eggrolls at Chili's and are SO delicious. A crispy flour tortilla filled with smoked chicken, black beans, corn, jalapeno Jack cheese, bell peppers and spinach. Served with cool avocado-ranch dressing, you will certainly be the MVP at your house this weekend!

To make 5-7 egg rolls (cut in half to make 10-14 pieces) you will need to gather the following:
2 tablespoons vegetable oil (or olive oil, for sauteing the veggies)
1 skinless, boneless chicken breast
2 tablespoons minced green onion
2 tablespoons minced bell pepper
1/3 cup frozen corn kernels (or canned corn)
1/4 cup black beans, rinsed and drained
2 tablespoons frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
2 tablespoons diced jalapeno peppers
1/2 tablespoon minced fresh parsley
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/3 teaspoon salt
1 pinch ground cayenne pepper
3/4 cup shredded Monterrey Jack cheese
5-7 (7 inch) flour tortillas
1 quart oil for deep frying

Start by seasoning your chicken breast with your favorite spices. I used a combination of garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper. Sear in a frying pan over medium-high heat in a little bit of oil until just cooked through, about five minutes per side. Set the chicken aside while we prepare the rest of the filling and the chicken cools a bit to handle.

Give a red or green bell pepper a small dice. You only need 2 T of this.

Give the green onion a fine dice, you need 2 T of this.

In the same fry pan that you cooked the chicken, turn the heat down to medium and add 1-2 T of oil and add the bell pepper and green onions, saute for 3-5 minutes, until tender.

I used both canned corn and canned black beans. Drain and rinse each. We will use about 1/4 cup of black beans and 1/3 cup of corn.

Add the black beans to the pan.

The chicken should be cool enough to handle now. Cube the chicken into small pieces and add to the pan along with the corn and frozen spinach.

I took the frozen spinach and just chopped off an estimated 2 T and threw it in frozen. It didn't take long to thaw in the hot pan.

Next, chop 2 T of hot jalapeno peppers and add that to the pan.

Season the mixture with 1/2 T minced parsley, 1/2 t ground cumin, 1/2 t chili powder, 1/3 t salt and 1 pinch ground cayenne pepper. I don't know why I was so shocked, but as soon as you add the seasoning you realize this is exactly how the Southwest Eggrolls at Chili's smell.

Cook and stir 5 minutes, until well blended and tender. Remove from heat and stir in Monterrey Jack cheese so that it melts.

 I put the mixture in a separate bowl, then added the shredded cheese.

Ideally, you should use at least 7-inch flour tortillas. The tortillas I had on hand were not quite as large, so my eggrolls were a little shorter, and the filling stretched to way more than the five egg rolls. I made around a dozen egg rolls.

Wrap the tortillas in a damp paper towel and microwave for 30 seconds. This steams them and makes them more pliable to work with. One at a time, fill a tortilla with about 1-2 tablespoons of the filling and wrap up tightly. Fold the sides in, and roll up snuggly. Place seam side down on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

Note: I would suggest at this point you secure each egg roll closed with toothpicks. You will thank me later. Alternatively, I would suspect that you could use a slurry of cornstarch and water to seal these closed.

Once they are all rolled up, place in the freezer for 2-4 hours (or overnight, if you want to make these the day before).

Now we turn our attention to that AWESOME avocado dip that comes with the eggrolls. You won't believe how easy this is to make. You need a cuisinart blender (or you could do this by hand with lots of mashing and stirring.)

Here is what you need to gather:
1/2 cup smashed fresh avocado (I used an entire medium sized avocado)
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup sour cream
1 tablespoon buttermilk  (I used milk)
1 1/2 teaspoons white vinegar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon dried parsley
1/8 teaspoon onion powder
1 dash dried dill weed
1 dash garlic powder
1 dash pepper

Add all the ingredients to your blender, and whirl away until it is smooth. Taste for seasoning and add more of whatever you think it needs.
 

Cover and refrigerate this, I found the dip tasted better after an hour or two in the fridge!

Now for the fun part. I've always wanted a deep fryer, but never bought one because I couldn't justify the purchase and we don't really need to be eating lots of fried food. Well... I won this at a tradeshow from the Dallas Convention and Visitors Bureau. What better way to break it in than to make these Southwest Eggrolls?!?!

Fill the fryer with 4-6 cups of oil (or to the minimum fill line in your fryer) and heat to 375 degrees. I used canola oil. Deep fry the eggrolls in the hot oil for 5-6 minutes or until nice a golden brown and remove to paper towels or a rack to drain for about 2 minutes.

My first batch of egg rolls didn't turn out so well. The eggrolls opened up in the hot oil....

For the next batch, I used toothpicks to hold the opening closed. This is the way to go!

The eggrolls turned out MUCH better!

Slice each eggroll diagonally lengthwise and arrange on a plate around a bowl of the avocado dipping sauce.

Then stand back and watch them disappear (like football season soon will). The flavor of the eggrolls and dipping sauce was spot-on-identical to the eggrolls at Chili's. Yum, yum, yum.

Yum.

Want more game day food ideas?
Check out my roundup of recipes for football season!