Mango, Chicken, & Goat Cheese Egg Rolls w/Avocado Dip

I’m a big fan of pretty much anything stuffed or rolled.  So when I looked in my kitchen and saw goat cheese, a mango, and chicken, I thought instantly of something I could make a goat cheese-mango-chicken stuffing for.  After contemplating a variety of foods such as empanadas, wontons, and enchiladas, I settled on egg rolls… ’cause what’s not to love about fricken egg rolls!!?  So I came up with this little concoction- a minty goat cheese spread, homemade avocado dip, and Latin-style egg roll deliciousness with corn, beans, cilantro, and lime… fusion, my favorite.  What I liked most about this idea was that A- I could use up a ton of the ingredients I already had in my fridge and B- I could make it a build-your-own smorgasbord, and who doesn’t love to build their own anything when it comes to eating!?  So I made all of my little fillings and dips, spread them out across the board, and rolled a variety of rolls using all and any combo of goodies I could think of!  I personally ended up preferring my rolls with just corn, mango, chicken, goat cheese, and cilantro… but the man liked his with beans, cabbage, and the whole shabang- so play around and see what you like 🙂

I chose to make an avocado dip because I thought since I was going kind of Latin already with the corn, beans, chicken, mango, and cilantro, it would make a nice refreshing cool dip for these rolls.  I added a little jalapeno and Greek yogurt to add spice and creaminess.  You can choose to throw in whatever you want or have, but this was a big hit in my house- we gobbled them all up and used up every little bit of filling we could… yummm 🙂

Normally, egg rolls are deep-fried.  Since I try to make things as healthy as I can (while still maintaining yumminess), I decided deep frying was out, but tried both baking and pan-frying these little guys.  To bake them, it takes about 10 minutes in a 400 degree preheated oven- they’re crunchy, crispy, and not greasy.  I ate the baked ones first and was surprisingly impressed.  Then for the boyfriend, I knew he’d want his fried, so I heated up some olive oil (works super well, but use another oil if you prefer) and lightly pan-fried them so they were golden brown and crispy all over.  I have to admit, they were delicious.  But both do work well, so go with whatever option you want, or try both like I did!

INGREDIENTS
(Some of these steps are optional- you don’t have to marinade the chicken, or use this marinade anyway and you certainly don’t need to make the avo dip- you can use whatever… salsa, guacamole, anything really- but if sure is tasty with these!)

egg roll wrappers

chicken, recipe below (optional)

1 fresh mango, cut into slices

4 oz goat cheese (I used minty goat cheese- see recipe below)

1/2 cup shredded red cabbage

1 corn cob, kernels removed (or 1/2 cup canned corn)

1 can of whole black beans (you’ll only need about 1/2)

handful fresh cilantro

dipping sauce, see below

2 chicken breasts

1/2 lime

1 tbsp olive oil

1/4 tsp salt

1/8 tsp pepper

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/8 tsp paprika

1/2 large avocado

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1 tbsp fresh chopped jalapeno

1/2 lime

1 tbsp Greek yogurt, plain

2 tbsp water

1 tbsp olive oil

4 oz plain goat cheese

1 tbsp chopped fresh mint

1/8 tsp salt

1/8 tsp pepper

Chop up mint (about 1 tbsp)

Scoop goat cheese into a small bowl (should be about 4 tbsp)

Toss in mint, salt, and pepper

And blend well

Cover and refrigerate- lasts days

Mix all of the marinade ingredients together in a small bowl or tupperware

Coat chicken well, cover, and let sit for as long as you have/want

Heat chicken over medium heat, cover, and cook for about 10-15 minutes

Flip breasts and repeat until cooked all the way through

Remove chicken from heat and place on large plate or working surface

Let rest and then shred into pieces with forks, knives, hands, whatever…

Get ingredients together- if you don’t have Greek yogurt you

can use sour cream or omit completely

In a small food processor, blend avocado, cilantro, salt, pepper, and lime

Mix until well chopped

Chop half jalapeno, seed removed, and add to mix (add more or less as you like- spice varies)

Add oil, water, and yogurt

Blend until smooth and adjust seasonings to taste

Scoop into a little bowl, cover, and refrigerate

Cut corn off the cob (should make about 1/2 cup)

If using canned corn, clearly you’ll be skipping this step 🙂

Thinly slice cabbage (about 1/2 cup)

Rinse and strain beans

Slice mango into strips

And now you’re ready!!

The fun thing about having a smorgasbord of ingredients is that people can make their own rolls, putting in whatever they want… combine all ingredients into one roll or play around with varieties!

I start with about 1 tsp of goat cheese spread diagonally along middle of wrapper

Then top with stuff…

And more stuff…

And when you have what you want in it, begin to roll

(careful not to overstuff- tough to roll, but you don’t want a boring wrap full of air either)

Tightly roll one end towards middle

The fold over sides (like little triangles)

And then roll all the way to end and seal tightly

(a loose wrap kinda sucks haha, so make it tight)

Here”s when you get to decide if you want to bake them or pan fry them… I did both just to show

If you’re concerned with the heath factor, baking is good- if you want the all around crispy brown exterior, fry those little guys 🙂

To bake… preheat oven to 400 degrees

Lay egg rolls on a lightly greased baking sheet and

lightly brush a little olive oil over top of rolls

Bake for about 10 minutes, until golden

They will be all cooked and pretty crunchy.. yumm!

To pan fry, heat a couple tbsp olive oil over medium heat

(you can use peanut or veggie, but olive is a little healthier so I prefer it)

You just need enough for the bottom of the rolls to sit it in (of course you can use more, but again, I’m thinking of health here- do whatever you want!!)

Let cook for a couple minutes on each side, turning to

cook all of it evenly (turning four times, like a square, works well)

When done, lay on paper towels to cool and dry

Cut rolls in half and serve with dip!!