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Baked Egg Rolls

I’m pulling another recipe and photo from the old shelf today. Baked egg rolls are one of my favorite easy dinners to make. Not only are they incredibly versatile, but they taste great with basically anything inside them. Another good thing? If you make a bunch, they still taste good the next day (…and maybe even the next)! Since the picture is for veggie egg rolls, I’ll write out the recipe for that.

What You Need:

Package of egg roll wrappers (found usually in the produce section near the tofu)

Few cups sliced cabbage

Carrots cut into small strips

1/2 an onion, sliced

Olive Oil

Salt+Pepper

Sesame oil (if you have it)

To Make:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees then, in a large pan, drizzle in around 2 tablespoons olive oil.  Turn on stove to medium-high heat and allow oil to heat up. Add  cabbage, carrots and onion and saute in the oil until the cabbage reduces and everything is soft. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Lay out about 8 egg roll wrappers on a counter or pan. Put a small amount of filling in the middle of the wrapper. With one of the points facing towards you, fold it over the filling and roll once. Fold in each side and roll again so that it now looks like a small log.  Rub with a bit of olive oil and place open side down on a baking sheet.

Repeat for the remainder of the filling then put in the oven for 6 minutes. When the time is up, flip egg rolls over and cook for another 5 minutes or until the outsides are crispy and golden brown.

Serve with duck sauce or soy sauce on the side.

Some of my other favorite egg rolls include:

Buffalo Chicken–Marinate boneless breasts of chicken in buffalo sauce then cook. Shred chicken using a knife and fork. Fill egg roll with chicken and crumbles of blue cheese. Bake and serve with hot sauce or blue cheese dressing on the side.

Sausage–Cook links of sausage then cut into tiny pieces. Fill egg roll with sausage and shredded cheddar cheese. Bake and serve with hot sauce or spicy mustard.

Pork Chop’s with Broccoli Pesto and Lemon Greenbeans

While thumbing through a cookbook the other night I stumbled across a recipe that included pesto and I instantly knew I wanted SOMETHING with pesto for dinner. Long story short, the grocery store didn’t have any basil (!) and paying six bucks for the pre-made stuff was out of the question. What else is green and delicious? Broccoli of course! This pesto definitely doesn’t have the creaminess of a basil pesto but it tasted good with the pork chop and that’s all that really matters. Right? Served with some lemony green beans, this meal is definitely on the healthier side.

Needed:

Pork chops (bone in..1 per person)

1 small head broccoli

Couple teaspoons parmsean cheese

Olive oil

Spicy brown mustard (optional but encouraged)

Green beans (probably about 10 beans per person)

1 tablespoon butter

1 teaspoon lemon zest

Salt, pepper, garlic powder

To Make:

Fill a small pot with approximately 1/4 cup water and put in head of broccoli. Steam over medium heat with the lid on. After about 6 minutes (or when broccoli is relatively soft), remove from heat and drain water. Cut off large part of stem but leave on for little florets.

Put broccoli in a food processor and process until tiny. Add in olive oil a tablespoon at a time and process until the mixture is like a paste. Add cheese, a sprinkle of salt, pepper and garlic powder and process again. Squeeze in a little mustard and process until the pesto becomes a little creamer.

Season pork chops by rubbing with olive oil and a little pepper on each side. Cook in a skillet over medium-high heat for approximately 4 minutes on each side. A pork chop is done cooking when there is NO pink inside.

While the pork chops cook, grab your broccoli pot and fill with 1/4 cup of water per green bean serving. Steam over medium heat with the lid on for about 5 minutes.

When everything is done cooking, drain beans and top with a small pat of butter then sprinkle with lemon zest. Plate up pork chop and top with a generous amount of pesto.

Enjoy!

Cinnasugar Cookies

Today was one of those days where all I wanted to eat was cookies, or chocolate, or ice cream. I tried to refrain although 2 Oreos dipped in my coffee may have made their way into my stomach.

Because I was craving cookies but didn’t feel like baking anything, I decided this cookie recipe would do for today. I posted this  recipe and photo way back in 2011 on my old blog but since then, I’ve made it several times and changed a few things. It may be a little old but that doesn’t make it any less delicious!

Ingredients:

3/4 cups butter, at room temperature

1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 egg yolk.

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 egg white

1 tablespoon water

1 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup granulated sugar

Extra sugar if desired.

 

To Make:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees then begin making cookies by mixing butter and sugar in a mixer.

Add vanilla and egg yolk, mix, then add flour and salt.

In a separate bowl, beat the egg white and water together as if making scrambled eggs then add to mixer and beat.

Mix sugar and cinnamon in an another bowl than gradually beat into cookie dough.

Roll dough into small balls (My dough made 20 cookies) then place in oven for 18-20 minutes or until golden brown.

When right out of the oven, sprinkle with granulated sugar or cinnamon (or a mix of the two) if desired.

The Perfect Sandwich

Sandwiches aren’t something I normally gravitate to but today, I was definitely craving one. When I make sandwiches at home, they always have the requirement of an avocado and in this simple but incredibly delicious sandwich, it worked perfectly.

How to Make “The Perfect Sandwich”

1 whole wheat Portuguese roll
3 slices deli ham (sliced thin)
2 slices deli chicken (sliced thin)
2 small slices brie cheese
1 teaspoon mayonnaise
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/2 ripe avocado, sliced
2 slices ripe ugly tomato
2 lettuce leaves, chopped thinly

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Slice roll in half and scoop out the middle of each side. Spread each side with a little mustard and mayonnaise.

On a foil lined pan, place each side of the roll inside-up. Put brie cheese on bottom half and ham and chicken on top half.

Bake in oven until cheese is melted (approx. 4-5 minutes).

On the bottom half, layer tomato, avocado and lettuce then combine with top and meat.

Slice in half and enjoy!

A Bolognese of Sorts

A few weeks ago while dining at an Italian in the city, I asked my friends food-saavy parent what bolognese was. The answer helped me instantly choose what I wanted to eat. A creamy meat sauce over noodles: what could be better?

When trying to figure out something to make for dinner tonight, I figured a little comfort food never hurt anyone so I threw together a meat sauce that doesn’t have the heaviness or texture of bolognese. I guess that means I simply made a meat sauce but calling it bolognese makes me feel a little fancier. That’s okay, right?

Ingredients:

1/2 pound ground turkey (or beef)

1 clove of garlic, minced

1 small can low-sodium tomato sauce

1 small can low-sodium diced tomatoes

1/2 red bell pepper, diced

1 cup frozen peas

whole-wheat noodles (approx. 1/2 pound for this amount of sauce)

salt, pepper, parmasean cheese, parsley flakes

olive oil

To Make:

Fill pot approximately 3/4 of the way full with water and set on the stove over high heat. Sprinkle in a little salt and cover until boiling.

Drizzle about 2 teaspoons of olive oil in a skillet and turn stove on to medium heat. Add garlic to pan and cook for 1 minute. Add ground turkey and break up with wooden spoon. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and mix.

Cook until meat is no longer pink then add all other ingredients, mix, and reduce heat to medium-low. Stir every few minutes to reduce splatters.

When water comes to a boil, add noodles, and stir every two minutes until done (approximately 8-10 minutes).

Sprinkle about a tablespoon of parmasean into the sauce and a shake of parsley flakes. Stir then remove from heat right before draining pasta.

Drain pasta when finished, plate, and top with a heaping spoonful of sauce. Sprinkle with more parmasean to taste, and enjoy!

Christmas Cinnamon Rolls

First photo taken with my 50mm lens