Baked Egg Rolls

Kevin is constantly asking to go out for Chinese food. I rarely give in because a) it's a bit pricey. b) it's really unhealthy. c) I feel fat when I'm done. d) I secretly love Chinese but try to restrain my desires. 

I'd been wanting to try my hand at homemade egg rolls ever since I saw Annie post these two recipes. Unfortunately, none of our grocery stores seemed to carry the wrappers. But then, in a moment of brilliance, our local farm market had a pile of egg roll wrappers for sale! YES! I snatched up a package along with shredded cabbage, and started preparing the recipe. 

These turned out to be delicious and the baking versus frying aspect totally won me over! 

Baked Egg Rolls 

recipe by adorkablerecipes.blogspot.com

serves 2-6

Ingredients

6 egg roll wrapper

canola oil

1 large boneless, skinless chicken breast, finely chopped

1 stalk celery, finely chopped

1/2 onion, finely chopped

2 carrots, shredded

3 cups cabbage, shredded

3 cloves garlic, minced/grated

3-4 Tbsp low sodium soy sodium 

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. 

Heat a large skillet to medium and drizzle with canola oil. Cook chopped chicken 5-6 minutes. Add in celery and onion and saute until softened. Add in carrots, cabbage, and garlic. Stir. Cover pan and let cook 2-3 minutes. Stir in soy sauce. Cook another 2-3 minutes. 

With dry hands lay out egg roll wrappers on a flat, clean surface. Place a heaping quarter-cup-full of the filling into the center of the wrapper. Fold over one of the corners, tuck and roll slightly. Fold two side corners to the center. Finish rolling. Dampen the final corner with water and gently press to seal. Place fold-side down on a baking sheet. 

Bake egg rolls 10 minutes then turn over. Bake another 10 minutes. Serve with soy sauce or teriyaki sauce.  

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Sweet and Sour Chicken

I have been slightly uninspired lately when it comes to dinners.

The dinner hour rolls around and I suddenly realize I hadn't even begun to plan a meal. 

That is SO not like me. 

But thankfully there are thousands of fellow foodies out there who HAVE been inspired lately.

And I came across this recipe at the perfect moment.

Last year, The Pioneer Woman developed a recipe sharing website as a branch of her blog.

Called Tasty Kitchen, it's a brilliant collaboration of home cooks and trained chefs combined. 

Recipes are tried and true. 

Easy to browse.

Beautifully displayed.

It's really lovely. 

You should check it out.

In any case, this sweet and sour chicken recipe was featured in a post by PW today.

And when I saw the list of ingredients and noticed they were all staple items, I knew I had found tonight's meal.

It was perfect.

Super easy to put together.

A leeettle bit time consuming, but totally worth it.

And I'm sure I'll get quicker at throwing it together in the future.

But I'd say you should give yourself at least an hour and half before meal time to start preparation and cooking. 

recipe adapted from Melanie on Tasty Kitchen. 
Ingredients

3 whole Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts

Salt And Pepper

1 cup (or less) Cornstarch

2 whole Eggs, Lightly Beaten

¼ cups Canola Oil

for the sauce:

¾ cups Sugar

4 Tablespoons Ketchup

½ cups Vinegar

1 Tablespoon Soy Sauce

1 teaspoon Garlic Salt

Directions

Cut chicken breasts into chunks or large bite-sized pieces. Season with salt and pepper. Dip chicken in cornstarch and then in egg (yes, this will be messy but it will be worth it, I promise!). Heat a thin layer of oil in a large skillet to medium/medium-high heat. Sauté/fry the chicken in the oil until browned on all sides but not cooked through. Place in a single layer in a baking dish coated with non-stick cooking spray.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Mix sauce ingredients together and pour over chicken. Bake for one hour, turning chicken every 15 minutes. 

While the chicken is baking start cooking the brown or white rice--to yield approximately 1 cup per person. 

Prepare fresh veggies (broccoli, green pepper, green onion, shredded carrot, sliced mushrooms, etc) or frozen veggies to be stir fried in the same skillet used to cook chicken. Sauté veggies for 5-10 minutes over medium heat with a light drizzle of oil and a sprinkle or two of soy sauce. 

For extra sweet and sour sauce, make another batch of sauce and bring it to a boil on the stovetop. Stir constantly and let cook over medium heat until thickened and reduced, about 6 to 8 minutes.