I have only two rules for myself when I go to the grocery store:
1) Never go hungry, and
2) always always bring a list.
Without these rules, shopping trips can turn into a disaster. My hungry self is VERY ambitious. As I wander the aisles I think of all the delicious things that I want to eat. It’s never healthy.
Ooooh, there’s a sale on tortellini! Nope, potato starch, no go. Hmmm, but I could make my own tortellini… with one, no three, no FIVE cheeses! And spinach! If I get basil, I can make my own pesto to go on top. And I’ll serve it with… asparagus! Oooh, and I can put leftovers in a soup the next day, so I should get all the stuff for that… and soup is always better with homemade bread…. meanwhile I’ve forgotten to pick up the things we actually need.
And then I get home, realize what I’ve done, and there’s no possible way I’m going to be able to make what I wanted to make, the hungry has turned to hangry and it all seems completely overwhelming and impossible and in the end I make us peanut butter sandwiches and go to bed.
This recipe was conceived on one of those days.
Maybe I should go to the grocery store hungry more often, because clearly my hungry self is a freaking genius. These are AMAZING. They’re crispy, crunchy, juicy, amazing.
It all started when I saw these out of the corner of my eye:
I’d never tried to make egg rolls myself before. I don’t know why, because they’re delicious! My hungry ambitious self decided to take on the challenge.
A quick ingredient scan showed that, miraculously, they’re Nightshade Free! Into the cart they went! These are fairly easy to find in the fridge section of Walmart in the USA (no Canada, sorry!), but any Nightshade Free alternative would do. Thank goodness for smartphones. A quick survey of recipes, and my cart was full of delicious things to put in my eggrolls! The recipe on the back of the package was a huge inspiration.
Since that day I’ve made them many times, and each time they turn out amazing. (Or Ah-Mahzing – I’ve been watching Happy Endings on Netflix and now I can’t see that word without pronouncing it the way Penny does!)
The first thing to do is brown your ground meat with some ginger. I’m using ground beef, because it was on sale and miraculously cheaper than all of the other ground meats. Chicken, turkey, and especially the classic, pork, will all work really well with this recipe!
While that’s doing its thing, I’m going to chop up all my veggies so that they’re small.
I fell in love with the colour of this red cabbage. Isn’t it glorious? I want a dress in this colour. Yup, a cabbage purple dress. Scratch that. I want my life to be this colour.
I do this recipe a little differently every time, depending on what’s in the fridge, but these are what I go back to again and again. Green onion (though I have made it with normal onion chopped very small), broccoli sprouts, carrots and red cabbage (green is fine, but the more colourful the better!)
By now your ground beef should be all brown and your kitchen should smell heavenly. Browned meat and ginger? YUM. Just toss your veggies on top, and mix them in, along with some teriyaki sauce.
If you have oyster sauce in your fridge, you can use that (it’s more traditional), but I don’t make enough things with oyster sauce to justify buying a bottle while we’re moving so much! I did, however, have a bottle of Veri Veri Teriyaki Sauce
Mix it all together and cook for two minutes, or until all your veggies are soft, then let it cool for 5-10 minutes so you won’t burn yourself when you handle it!
YUM.
Now the fun part! ASSEMBLAGE! Production line, go! (You’ll see what the glass of water is for in a minute!)
Take one sheet of the egg roll wrap, and position it like a diamond on your plate:
Measure out 2 tablespoons of your filling, and put it on the bottom half of your diamond:
Now roll the bottom up and over halfway. If you have to kind of squeeze the filling to make it fit, give ‘er.
Fold the two side corners over, so it looks like an envelope.
Now, you want everything to stick together, so you’re just going to take some water and brush it along the edges (like the sticky part on an envelope!). If you have a kitchen brush, that works. I was using my cake decorating paintbrush when I took this picture, but in the end I just used my finger. It’s easy enough, and much faster!
Fold it over….
And rollllllll! Aw look at it, so gosh darn cute! Snug as a bug in a rug!
While I do the other ones, I’m placing this one so that the point is facing down on my oiled baking sheet. This will discourage it from popping open as it dries out.
Once you’ve done a couple, you really get into the rhythm of it and they go by pretty quick! This is a great recipe for kitchen helpers, either distributing the filling, putting water on the edge, or helping you roll (slightly older little ones!).
Using the same brush, I’m going to brush all of them with a little olive oil to really give them that crispy texture as they bake. If you have an olive oil spray, that would do well too.
12 minutes at 400°, and they look GORGEOUS!
The edges all crispy and brown…
They make amazing leftovers. Mr. Nomato takes them in his lunch and eats them cold and they’re still delicious.
I have yet to find a nightshade free plum sauce in the store (seeing as one of the key ingredients is peppers), so we just eat these with no dipping sauce and they’re so good.
SO. FREAKING. GOOD!!!
Can’t get enough? Watch the video!
- 1 pkg. Nasoya Egg Roll Wraps (or 20 egg rolls with any papers!)
- 1 lb . ground beef , pork, chicken OR turkey (I used beef)
- 1 tbsp ginger , minced, OR 1 tsp ginger powder
- 2 cups finely chopped cabbage
- ¼ lb . broccoli sprouts
- 3 medium-sized carrots , shredded
- 4 green onions , finely chopped, or ½ yellow onion
- 3 tbsp Soy Vay Veri Veri Teriyaki Sauce OR other teriyaki sauce , OR 2 tbsp oyster sauce
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- non-stick spray
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In a frying pan, mix and brown the ground meat with ginger, stirring regularly to ensure it’s completely cooked through.
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Chop cabbage, sprouts, carrot and onions into small pieces.
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When meat is brown, add veggies and teriyaki sauce to the frying pan and mix. Cook until veggies are soft, about 2 minutes.
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Let cool 5-10 minutes, until it is cool enough for you to handle.
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Lay out egg roll paper in a diamond shape, and spoon 2 tablespoons of filling into the bottom half of the diamond.
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Fold the bottom up to just cover the filling and then fold the two side corners in.
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Brush the top corner with water, and then roll tightly to completely encase the filling.
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Preheat oven to 400°
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Spray baking sheet with non-stick spray, and lightly brush olive oil over the top (especially the edges! They’ll get nice and crispy!). Place the rolls on the sheet with the 'flap side' down, so they don't come open as they cook.
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Bake for 10-12 minutes.
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Let cool for a few minutes (or your mouth will be on fire, no, I’m not speaking from impatient experience, what are you talking about!) serve and enjoy! Makes a great lunch!
** I’m in no way being paid for advertising for Nasoya or Soy Vay, they’re just delicious nightshade free products that work well in our kitchen! **
This recipe was featured in the Tell ‘Em Tuesday’s Link up!
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