Baked Egg Rolls

I was scheming up ways to use up the other half of the Napa cabbage, when I thought of egg rolls. One my my favorite appetizers! I haven't the foggiest idea how to deep fat fry (nor the inclination to learn), so I hunted down a baked egg roll recipe to try.

Sorry about the blurry pictures!

Begin by pulsing celery and carrots in a food processor until finely chopped. Mix in shredded cabbage and throw into the microwave to steam. (The recipe suggested covering the mixture with plastic wrap, but the thought of microwaving plastic was a little worrisome to me, so I put an upside down bowl on top instead. It seemed to work just fine.) While the cabbage mixture is steaming, begin sautéing onions, ginger and garlic in a large skillet. I doubled the amount of ginger and garlic, because the original struck me as a little conservative on those flavors.


Add ground turkey (or pork) and continue cooking. When the meat is cooked through, add the cabbage mixture and stir in soy sauce and ground pepper. Chill briefly.


Time to roll! The original recipe gave tedious rolling instructions that involved cutting off the two side corners. Who has the patience for that sort of detail on an egg roll? I did a couple the recipe's way, but didn't see any advantage to it, so I switched to a different method: add filling to the bottom quadrant, fold bottom corner towards center, fold side corners toward center, roll up toward the top corner and seal with a brushing of egg white.


And you have one small egg roll.

Lay the rolls seam side down on a greased baking sheet, brush with oil and bake until golden brown.  Serve warm with your favorite dipping sauce.

I measured out the three tablespoons of filling per wrapper just as the recipe called for and ended up with eight rolls, a far cry from the fourteen it claimed to make. They were delicious, although they definitely tasted like egg rolls made with ground turkey instead of the more common chicken or pork--a touch of the healthy vibe, if you know what I mean.

I froze a set of uncooked egg rolls as an experiment. If they freeze well, this could be a great way to preserve cabbage--especially since baking in the summer isn't always the most attractive option. When I try baking them, I'll let you know how it goes!

Recipe below or printable version here.

Asian Cabbage Slaw

Napa cabbage time!

A tad milder and sweeter than your standard green cabbage, it can be braised, marinated, used as a wrap, added to soups or eaten raw in salads (it's tasty with noodles!). Chop up the white stems and add to a stir fry for a bit of crunch. Such a versatile little veggie.

Asian cabbage slaw is an easy side dish and a happy addition to summer barbeques.

Mix together shredded cabbage, grated carrots, and diced bell pepper. My cabbage was a bit more on the chopped side than shredded. What can I say? I was feeling lazy creative.

Whisk together oil, rice vinegar, soy sauce, brown sugar and ginger.

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Toss the dressing with the veggie mix and let marinate a wee bit.

Hello, refreshing alternative to coleslaw! Recipe below, or printer-friendly version here.