Life is Healthy

I don’t personally know Melanie Scott of Amarillo, TX, but for a few moments during dinner last night, she was my BFF.

During these last four years of weight loss and maintenance, I’ve chosen to stop eating several kinds of food including one of my favorites: egg rolls. I always thought egg rolls had to be deep-fat fried, and deep-fat fried anything sits like a lump in my stomach. Despite my love for egg rolls (and funnel cakes, Burger King French fries, and the fish ‘n chips they serve up at a great little basement pub in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, the name of which escapes me), digesting them would not be worth the pleasure of eating them.

I’d made a difficult peace with the fact that I’d never eat egg rolls again and my life went on as usual, albeit a little emptier. Enter Melanie Scott and her recipe for Spinach & Black Bean Egg Rolls in a recent edition of Simple & Delicious, one of my favorite food magazines. Not only is Melanie’s recipe one for low-fat eggs rolls, but low-fat vegetarian egg rolls. They sounded almost too good to be true. But let me tell you, my friends, they are true and they are good. Very good.

Spinach & Black Bean Egg Rolls

2 C frozen corn, thawed
1 can (15 oz) black beans, rinsed and drained
1 pkg (10 oz) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
1 C (4 oz) shredded reduced-fat Mexican cheese blend (I used Cabot 75% Fat-Free cheddar)
1 can (4 oz) chopped green chilies, drained
4 green onions, chopped
1 tsp. ground cumin
½ tsp. chili powder
½ tsp. pepper
20 egg roll wrappers

In a large bowl, combine everything except the egg roll wrappers. Place ¼ cup mixture in the center of one egg roll wrapper. Fold bottom corner over filling. Fold sides toward center over filling. Moisten remaining corner with water; roll up tightly to seal. Repeat.

Place seam side down on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Spray tops of egg rolls with cooking spray. Bake at 425 degrees for 10-15 minutes until lightly brown (I flipped them halfway through cooking).

Serve warm with salsa and/or light ranch dressing.

If using reduced-fat Mexican cheese, each egg roll has 147 calories, 2 grams fat, 26 grams carbs, 2 grams fiber, and 7 grams protein. Using a lower-fat cheese like Cabot or a fat-free cheese, each egg roll is 1 Point; two egg rolls are 3 Points.

Now I can have my egg rolls and eat them, too. However, I’m sure I’m behind the times, and several of you will write to me with “I’ve been eating baked egg rolls for 20 years!” to which I say, bring it on! My only stipulation? Include a recipe.

So Melanie Scott of Amarillo, TX, thank you for your awesome recipe, but mostly for restoring a beloved food back to my repertoire. One that doesn’t sit like a lump in my stomach. Now if I could just find low-fat Burger King fries and funnel cake…