Tex-Mex Egg Rolls w/ Creamy Cilantro Sauce

I just KNOW your mouth is starting to water already. I made these little babies for the Olympic Opening Ceremony barbecue/celebration we had last month. Get it? China...Eggrolls? However, (at the time) I was in the mood for some Mexican food so wallah...problem solved!

DELICIOUS is all I'm going to say...

Ingredients:

1 (5 ounce) package yellow rice (I bought the packet that you just heat in the microwave for 60 seconds...save you tons of time)

1 teaspoon salt

1 pound ground hot pork sausage (I used Reduced Fat mild or you could substitue with chicken)

1 (15-ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained

1 (14.5 -ounce) can Mexican style diced tomatoes, undrained

2 cups (8 ounces) shredded Monterrey Jack cheese

6 green onions, finely chopped

1 (1.25 ounce) package taco seasoning mix

28 egg roll wrappers (these are usually found near/in/or by the produce section)

1 large egg, lightly beaten

4 cups peanut oil (I used Canola oil...much healthier)

Instructions:

Cook rice using 1 teaspoon salt. Cool completely

Cook sausage in a skillet over medium heat, stirring until it crumbles an is no longer pink; drain well. Let cool.

Stir together rice, sausage, black beans, and next 4 ingredients in a large bowel. Spoon about 1/3 cup of mixture into center of each egg roll wrapper. Fold top corner of wrapper over filling, tucking tip of corner under filling; fold left and right corners over filling. Lightly brush remaining corner with egg*; tightly roll filled end toward the remaining corner, and gently press to seal.

(*I used water instead of egg)

Pour oil into heavy Dutch oven (I used my wok); heat to 375 degrees F. Fry egg rolls, in batches, 2 or 3 minutes or until golden. Drain on wire rack over paper towels. Serve with Creamy Cilantro Sauce. Devour immediately!

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Creamy Cilantro Sauce:

2 (10-ounce) cans Mexican-style diced tomatoes

1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese softened (I used Fat Free)

2 cups loosely packed fresh cilantro leaves (about 1 bunch)

1 cup sour cream (I used Fat Free)

3 garlic cloves, minced

Process all ingredients in a food processor until smooth.

(for the health cautious...you could probably bake these in the oven instead of frying. I'm going to try that next time)