Baked Southwestern Egg Rolls

We had our nephew Brendan's third birthday party this weekend. Unfortunately, I just wasn't feeling up to making his cake this year. Being nine months pregnant really limits my ability to be on my feet for long periods of time, and being hunched over a cake to decorate it just didn't seem to be a good idea. So, reluctantly, I had Melissa order a cake this year. I sure felt guilty, though! :(

Even if I couldn't come bearing a fun character cake for Brendan (I made Pooh and Tigger for his 1st birthday, and Lightning McQueen for his second), we couldn't show up empty-handed. And so we once again turned to my recipe stash to see what we could come up with for an appetizer.

These Baked Southwestern Egg Rolls seemed to be easy enough, and they're different--I knew I didn't have to worry about anyone else showing up with homemade egg rolls! :)

We whipped up a batch of homemade salsa to go with them, but truthfully, I think it's completely unnecessary. These egg rolls are kick-ass on their own! They have enough spice and flavor to them without needing to dip them in anything at all. Also, rolling them up wasn't difficult at all--there were directions with pictures on the back of the egg roll wrapper package, plus it turned out to be the same method I use to roll up sandwich wraps. Easy-peasy.

Baked Southwestern Egg Rolls
(Source: Annie's Eats)

Ingredients:
- 2 cups frozen corn, thawed (or canned corn)
- 1 (15 oz.) can black beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 (10 oz.) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
- 2 cups shredded Mexican cheese blend
- 1 (4 oz.) can diced green chiles, drained
- 4 green onions, chopped
- 1 tsp. ground cumin
- 1/2 tsp. chili powder
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1/2 tsp. pepper
- 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
- 1 package egg roll wrappers (about 24 total) - I only got 19

Directions:
1. In a large bowl, combine everything but the egg roll wrappers. Mix well to blend.

2. Lay an egg roll wrapper out on a work surface so that one of the corners is pointing toward you and place 1/4 cup of the filling in the center. Fold the tip closest to you up over the filling, roll a bit, then take the points pointing outward and fold them in toward the center. Continue rolling into an egg roll shape until a small part of the remaining point is still free. Dip a finger in water or beaten egg and lightly brush on the edges of the free corner. Finish rolling and press to seal closed. Repeat with the remaining wrappers and filling.

3. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Lightly oil a baking sheet with cooking spray. Place the sealed egg rolls on the baking sheet seam side down and spray the tops of the egg rolls with cooking spray. Bake for about 15 minutes, or until lightly brown, turning halfway through baking. Serve warm with salsa.