Facelift Number Nine - Chili's Southwestern Egg Rolls

Thank you all so much for your patience! As I explained in my last blog post, last weekend was my birthday and Halloween so it was busy!

I've done a previous facelift for a Chili's dish, but until today I haven't attempted my favorite appetizer of theirs: Southwestern Egg Rolls. My boyfriend and I would split this as an appetizer nearly every time we'd go to Chili's in college. It's so yummy, but as you'll soon see, it's so easy to make at home!

BEFORE THE FACELIFT





INGREDIENTS

For wontons:
16 wonton wrappers
.5 cup canned corn (no salt added variety)
.5 cup black beans (low sodium variety)
1 cup baby spinach
1 tsp minced garlic
1/8 haas avocado
1/2 tsp Trader Joe's Chili Pepper Hot Sauce
1 tbsp cilantro

For sauce:
2 tbsp nonfat greek yogurt
1 tsp Mrs. Dash Garlic and Herb
juice from 1/4 of a lime

Ready? You better be!

LET'S COOK!


Cook the spinach with the garlic until wilted.


Rinse the beans under cold water for 1 minute and dry on a paper towel.


Put spinach, corn, beans, hot sauce, and cilantro in a food processor and...


...blend until combined and beans are broken down a bit.


Dice 1/8 of the avocado.


Put a teaspoon full of the mixture in one wonton and top with a couple of pieces of avocado.


Lightly moisten two edges of the wonton and fold in half, pressing down lightly so it's sealed. (I keep a small bowl of water next to me so I can just dunk my finger in it to use for the wontons.)


Moisten one of the corners of the wonton and pinch it to the other corner.


Arrange on a lightly greased baking sheet and bake for 7 minutes at 400 degrees F...


...until golden brown!


For the sauce, mix the yogurt, Mrs. Dash, and lime juice until combined.


Makes 2 servings of 8 wontons each and half of the sauce for each serving. Enjoy!

FACELIFT RESULTS
Remember this is for one 8 wonton serving!

635 fewer Calories (-69.8%)
55g less fat (-96.1%)
14g less saturated fat (-100%)
14g less carbs (-18.8%)
15g less protein (-53.7%)
1g less fiber (-17.1%)
1499mg less sodium (-76.5%)

If you were to eat all 16 of these wontons and all of the sauce, you'd still have consumed less than half of the original's Calories, sodium, fat, and saturated fat!

Similar to other facelifts of mine, protein and fiber decreased, which was not intentional. You could counteract this by adding some kind of meat substitute (just watch out for the sodium!) but you can just pair this with brown rice for some more fiber, or quinoa for fiber and protein.

Full recipe HERE and, as usual, please leave a comment here or on SparkPeople or e-mail me at FastFoodFacelift@gmail.com with your ideas, suggestions, critiques, etc.

Facelift Number Three: A BIGGER Mouth Bite

Chilis sure makes some really delicious food, especially their burgers. In a past life I'd gladly eat any of their Big Mouth Burgers... but the lowest Calorie one has 820 Calories and 44 grams of fat! And that is just the plain "Old Timer" burger, too, which is just a burger, tomato, lettuce and mustard on a sesame seed bun - no cheese, no bacon, nothing! I decided to take on the unhealthiest of their burgers... four mini-burgers called "Big Mouth Bites".

BEFORE THE FACELIFT




Now it's time for a facelift!

INGREDIENTS


8 ounces 98% lean ground ostrich meat
1/4 cup chopped red onion
2 Arnold's Whole Wheat Sandwich Thins
4 mini-slices Sara Lee Aged Sharp Cheddar Cheese
2 slices Butterball Lower Sodium Turkey Bacon
1 California haas avocado
2 tablespoons light sour cream
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon Mrs. Dash Southwest Chipotle
1 teaspoon Mrs. Dash Table Blend
1 teaspoon paprika
(Ignore the dressing that's in the photo; I ended up omitting it.)



LET'S COOK!


Chop up the onion. If you have a food processor, use it! These pieces I chopped ended up being a little too big.


Combine the onion, garlic, Southwest Chipotle Mrs. Dash, and Worcestershire sauce in a bowl.


Form mixture into 4 patties.


In another bowl, combine the avocado, sour cream, paprika and Mrs. Dash Table Blend until...


...it looks like this! Set aside.


Cook the bacon.


Cook the burgers.


Toast the Sandwich Thins and top with 1 tablespoon of the avocado spread and the bacon (crumbled).


Put one mini-slice of cheese on top of each burger and let it melt.


Place one burger on each Sandwich Thin and enjoy! Recipe makes four burgers; two burgers = one serving.

FACELIFT RESULTS

Burger, left; Guacamole Spread, right:
Combining both:
1186 fewer Calories (-75%)
80g less fat (-82%)
22g less saturated fat (-80%)
2354mg less sodium (-80%)
76g less carbs (-73%)
2g more dietary fiber (+25%)
25g less protein (-40%)

Again, it looks like protein went down. Definitely not my goal.

Now, you may wonder why I chose ostrich. Firstly, I like interesting game and I was curious when I saw the ostrich meat at a local international food market. Secondly, I've heard great things about it and how great of a healthy alternative it is from beef.

Feel free to use whatever meat product you prefer: ground chicken, ground turkey, ground beef, or even Gimme Lean. Gimme Lean is pretty delicious - I've used it a few times and although it has a good dose of sodium, it's a great meatless alternative if you need it.

As far as improvements to this, next time I try this out I will be sure to flatten the patties a bit more so they cover the entire Sandwich Thin. Otherwise this was extremely delicious and very filling!

Avocado spread recipe can be found here and the burger recipe can be found here.

If you have any suggestions for other fast food items for me to give a facelift, leave a comment or send an e-mail to FastFoodFacelift@gmail.com!