Zucchini and Corn Quinoa with Mexican Egg rolls

Scot was in love with this meal. I mean he loves everything. But he really loves Mexican. Both the egg rolls and the quinoa. This meal is so filling. I took a bite of a egg roll and was full. The quinoa too, very filling. And very satisfying.

I have been wanting to try quinoa for forever. It is a gluten-free grain. I like it. It is a little chewy and heartier than most grains. I don't think I made it completely right, but it still tasted really good. I ended up doing it more like a risotto. The water kept getting completely absorbed and I would have to add more. I ended up adding 1.5 times the amount of water. This has happened to me before with rice, so not really sure. But, regardless, it all worked out.

I have had Mexican egg rolls and made plenty of regular egg rolls, so this was fun for me. I love spring wrappers instead of the regular egg roll wrappers. I got that idea here. When frying anything, you can always do a shallow fry. I almost always do a shallow fry, because it wastes less oil.

Zucchini and Corn Taco Seasoned Quinoa

from Closet Cooking with modification by foodforscot

1 cup quinoa

2 cups water (plus up to 1 cup more)

1 batch taco seasoning (recipe below)

1 ear corn (grilled and kernels cut from cob) or 1 cup frozen corn, cooked

1 cup zucchini (grated)

1 cup black beans

1 green onion (sliced)

1/4 cup cilantro (chopped)

1 tablespoon oil

1 lime (juice)

salt and pepper to taste

1/4 cup cotija (crumbled)

Simmer the quinoa in the water along with the taco seasoning until the water is absorbed, about 40 minutes (I cooked it for over an hour). I had to keep adding water because the quinoa would soak up all the water and still be crunchy! I ended up adding another cup of water or more! Not sure why.

Mix the quinoa, corn, zucchini, black beans, green onion and cilantro in a large bowl. Dress with oil, lime juice, salt and pepper.

Serve garnished with cotija cheese.

(Servings: 4, Prep time: 10 min., Cook time: 1 hr., Difficulty: Easy)

Taco Seasoning

from Closet Cooking

1 tablespoon chili powder (toasted and ground dried chilies)

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

2 teaspoons cumin (toasted and ground)

1/2 teaspoon oregano

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon pepper

Mix everything.

(makes enough to season 1 pound meat)

Printable Version

Mexican Egg Rolls

1/2 cup chicken, cooked and shredded

1 small onion, diced

1 cup frozen corn

1 cup black beans, rinsed

1 8 oz can of diced green chilies, drained

1/2 cup shredded Colby jack cheese

handful of cilantro, roughly chopped

salt

pepper

Spring roll wrappers

1 egg, beaten

light frying oil (about 2 cups)

In a skillet in a tbsp of oil, cook onion until softened. Add corn and cook until warm. Add beans and green chilies.

In a large bowl, combine shredded chicken, veggie mixture, cheese, cilantro, salt and pepper.

Preheat oil in deep skillet or shallow pot. You will need at least approximately an inch deep of oil (you can also deep fry them).

To wrap egg rolls, lay one wrapper with corners pointing right and left (and up and down). Fill with about 1/2 cup of filling. Bring bottom corner up and over filling, fold in both side corners, tightly roll until there is about 2 inches left. Brush remaining corner with egg wash and continue roll to make a nice seal. Carefully fry them in batches. If doing a shallow fry, you will need to fry each side for about 3 minutes on each side.

Serve with dipping sauce.

(Servings: 8 egg rolls, Prep time: 30 min., Cook time: 15 min., Difficulty: Easy)

Printable Version