Avocado Egg Rolls

Avocado Egg Rolls

Ingredients:

1 cup vegetable oil

3 avocados, halved, peeled and seeded

1 roma tomato, diced

1/4 cup diced red onion

2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves

Juice of 1 lime

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

8 egg roll wrappers

Cilantro Dipping Sauce:

3/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves, loosely packed

1/3 cup sour cream

1 jalapeno, seeded and deveined, optional

2 tablespoons mayonnaise

1 clove garlic

Juice of 1 lime

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste


Directions:

Cilantro dipping sauce; combine cilantro, sour cream, jalapeno, mayonnaise, garlic and lime juice in the bowl of a food processor; season with salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.
Heat vegetable oil in a large skillet or Dutch oven over medium high heat.

In a medium bowl, gently mash avocados using a potato masher. Add tomato, red onion, cilantro, lime juice, salt and pepper, to taste, and gently toss to combine.

Working one at a time, place avocado mixture in the center of each wrapper. Bring the bottom edge of the wrapper tightly over the filling, folding in the sides. Continue rolling until the top of the wrapper is reached. Using your finger, rub the edges of the wrapper with water, pressing to seal. Repeat with remaining wrappers and avocado mixture.

Working in batches, add egg rolls to the Dutch oven and fry until evenly golden brown and crispy, about 2-3 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate.

Parmesan Marinara Mussels

Parmesan Marinara Mussels

Ingredients:

2 dozen large mussels

1 cup marinara Sauce

⅓ cup butter, melted

3 cloves minced garlic

1½ cups crusty bread crumbs

1 tsp chopped fresh thyme

pinch coarsely ground black pepper

⅓ cup Parmesan cheese, finely grated



Directions:

Wash the mussels and pull off any beards that may still be attached to the shell. A pair of needle-nose pliers works well for this. Discard any mussels with cracked or broken shells and those that do not remain closed after a minute when you pinch them together. Also discard any mussels that do not open during the cooking time.

Bring 1 inch of water to a boil in a large covered pot. Add the mussels, cover the pot and let them steam for only 3 minutes to open the shells.

Remove the top shell and loosen the mussels from the half of the shells that they are attached to before laying them in a baking dish.

Spoon about a teaspoonful of marinara sauce over each mussel in their shells.
Over medium heat melt the butter in a small saucepan and add the the garlic. Cook for just a minute to soften it.

Add the bread crumbs, chopped thyme and black pepper. Stir to combine well, then toss in the Parmesan cheese.

Spoon the crumbs evenly over the marinara sauce covered mussels. Press the crumbs down gently and bake at 375 degrees F for 15 minutes.