Refried Bean Roll-Ups

I first came across this recipe when trying to make dinner for the 2nd pickiest dinner guest I have ever had. The pickiest is my dear friend and upstairs neighbor for whom I made the Brownie Ice Cream Sandwich Cake. This guest was only slightly better. He is a vegan who doesn’t eat tomatoes or, get this, sauces. That meant no pasta, no eggs, no grilled cheese, no salads (dressing counts as a sauce) or ANYTHING. I was stumped. The no pasta (cuz he wouldn’t want sauce on it) and no salad thing just killed me.

I spent the ENTIRE day looking for a recipe that the 2 of us would both like. I finally found this super simple, vegan friendly dinner and was saved of all of his complexities. No meat or animal products so long as I shopped wisely, the only tomatoes were in salsa (which he does eat, along with ketchup), and the salsa was mixed in so that it was not a sauce. PERFECT. And get this, it’s really good too! And super filling. This past week roomie and I shared it and would have had enough to use it as bean dip (which it is really good as!) and have another serving leftover. Did I mention it makes a good bean dip, cuz it does. I was starving at midnight the next night (writing a paper until 1 or 2 am does that to a gal) and in searching through the fridge I found the leftovers. I had them cold as bean dip on tortilla chips and was in heaven.

Overall, you can’t beat this recipe. It's cheap, filling and healthy. I am entering it in Eat Healthy- Protein Rich. It has 12.25 grams of protein in a 2 wrap portion.

I apologize for the pics. I must have bought a bad bag of tortillas because most of them were already ripped before I even pulled them out of the bag. When folding the tortillas up, it lead to a bean explosion, but was still tasty. Do try to use unripped tortillas though.

Refried Bean Roll-Ups

1 can (16 ounces) fat-free refried beans (the fat free kind are better for you and are vegan friendly)
1/2 cup salsa (any variety)
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
8 fat-free flour tortillas (8 to 10 inches in diameter)
1 cup shredded lettuce
1/2 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese (2 ounces)

1. Mix beans, salsa and chili powder in 1-quart saucepan. Heat over medium heat about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until warm.
2. Spoon about 1/4 cup of bean mixture onto center of each tortilla; spread slightly. Top with lettuce and cheese. Fold over sides and ends of tortillas. Serve with addiditional salsa if desired.

South West Eggrolls

I’m sorry for the disconnect in the blogging. One day I post regularly, then next thing you know I miss about a month of posting! Since my last post I had a case to present for the University Student Judiciary (ugh, I am not allowed to and also don’t want to go into it), I had a women’s studies preliminary and final paper due and had a final paper (20 pages in length) due for my environmental policy course. Oy. oh and then I graduated. And then I went to Europe (not that I'm complaining!). Oh, and I got my apartment for next year.

Somehow cooking did still happen, but that cooking is not going here. This post is actually going back in time a few months to J and O’L’s engagement party. Just a recap- party was great, had a ball and I think the engaged couple did too (or at least I hope so). All the food was ready on time and the only thing I forgot was the salad tongs. I’d say that was a success! Sadly though, not nearly as many people came as we expected to come and 3 of the people who did come didn’t eat, so needless to say there was a lot of extra food. We had leftovers for DAYS (though the ice cream sandwich cookies disappeared the very next day! Lol) The two HUGE hits of the party seemed to be the Italian grilled cheeses as well as the ice cream sandwiches, with a 3rd place going to pigs in a blanket.

Another hit was the south west eggrolls. Ground turkey, some southwest spices, corn, beans and spinach wrapped in a tortilla and baked until crispy, as though almost fried. I changed the recipe from the original by reducing the beans to ½ can per 1.3 pound package of turkey and using ½ box of frozen spinach per 1/3 pound pack. I limited the spices because the couple didn’t like spicy things, though you can easily bump up the spice if you want. I served it with a version of my Mexican dip (gosh, how much do I put this stuff on?!) and ate them up.

With the beans and the turkey they are super filling, so appetizer sizes are ½ rolls and about 3 rolls seemed to be a dinner sized portion. Because of the beans and turkey an entree size portion has about 19.7 grams of protein! I'm thus entering it in Eat Healthy- Protein Rich.

South West Egg Rolls (adapted from many ideas, especially AllRecipes)

1.3 lb ground Turkey

4 tbsp chopped Onion

1 can Corn

½ - 2/3 can Black beans, drained and rinsed

3-4 tbsp Frozen Spinach, thawed and drained

1 tsp Cumin

1 tsp Chili powder

2/3 tsp garlic Salt

1/8 tsp Cayenne

19 flour tortilla

pam

1. In a medium saucepan over medium high heat, cook turkey most of the way. Remove from heat, drain, return to pan.

2. Heat to medium high again. Stir in onion. Cook and stir 5 minutes, until onions are tender and meat is cooked.

3. Mix in corn, black beans, spinach, cumin, chili powder, garlic salt and cayenne pepper. Cook and stir 5 minutes, until well blended and tender. Remove from heat

4. Wrap tortillas with a clean, lightly moist cloth. Microwave on high approximately 1 minute, or until hot and pliable.

5. Spoon even amounts of the mixture into each tortilla. Fold ends of tortillas, then roll tightly around mixture.

6. If you are freezing and eating later: Secure with toothpicks. Arrange in a medium dish, cover with plastic, and place in the freezer. When ready, continue to next step without defrosting, but add another 5 minutes of baking time

7. When ready to eat, remove toothpicks if you used them. Place the egg rolls seam side down on an aluminum foil and pam covered baking sheet. Spray the egg rolls with pam, and bake at 475 degrees for 15 minutes. May take longer if there are too many rolls on the baking sheet