Sunday, June 29, 2008

Cabbage Rolls!

So, when I was growing up, there were all these things I thought I didn't like. Things like tomatoes, mushrooms, beets, watermelon, chocolate cake and....cabbage! But I'm happy to report that I now love all of the above!!! It's like going vegetarian has opened up a whole new world of tastes and textures for me, or at least it made my taste buds more open-minded :)

And yesterday, I was in the mood for an experiment. For the first time ever, I made cabbage rolls, and I thought I'd share a bit about the experience with everyone. I had a huge cabbage leftover from my last Good Food Box, and I thought what better way to use it up than to try some cabbage rolls. So I went searching for a good vegetarian version online, and this is the one I found where I had all but 2 of the ingredients (I had to go pick up some tomatoes and green onions, but everything else I had in stock). Make sure you have a couple of hours to work on this, but have a book handy too so you can chill out during some of the longer cook times.

Enjoy!
-Annalise S.


INGREDIENTS

* Sauce
o 1/2 medium onion, minced
o 2 tablespoon oil
o 6 medium tomatoes, diced or 1 can
o 1 1/2 teaspoon salt
o 2 teaspoon paprika
o 1/4 teaspoon cayenne

* Rolls
o 1 very large head cabbage
o 1 medium onion, minced
o 2 tablespoon oil
o 3 green onions, minced
o 2 medium cloves garlic, minced
o 1/3 cup dry Textured Vegetable Protein + 1/3 cup water or 1 cup veggie mince
o 2 medium tomatoes, diced
o 4 cups cooked rice
o 1/3 cup fresh parsley, minced
o 2 teaspoon salt
o 2 teaspoon paprika
o 1/4 teaspoon cayenne


METHOD
Make the sauce by sauteing the onion in 2 T oil. Add the tomatoes, salt, paprika and cayenne, bring to a boil and simmer for 1 hour.


Remove the core of the cabbage and steam the whole head in a large pot with the core side down until it will separate, about 20 minutes. Remove and let cool. Separate the cabbage leaves. (Note: I found that the filling was enough for about 14-16 leaves, maybe 20+ if you use less filling per roll).


To make the filling, in a large skillet, saute the onion in 2 T of oil for 10 minutes, stirring often. Add the green onions, garlic, TVP, water and tomatoes and simmer for 15 minutes. Add the rice and spices and mix well. Set aside.


Preheat the oven to 180C/350F. Take your cabbage leaves and, one leaf at a time, cut out the core pieces. Place some of the rice mixture on each leaf. Leave enough room to fold the sides inward, and roll up the leaves. Place the cabbage rolls in a casserole dish and cover with the sauce. Bake for 30 minutes.


And voila!!



(Recipe is courtesy of VeganFood.Net)

Monday, June 23, 2008

Places to eat in Orillia

Our June meeting took place at a local eatery, so we thought it would be smart to provide some info about it, as well as some other local restaurants that serve vegetarian fare! 13 of us gathered at Brewery Bay on Sunday June 1st. This local veggie-friendly pub borrows it's name from the property where Stephen Leacock built his summer home in the early 20th century. It is the most well known, and most overtly veggie-friendly restaurant in town. It's a pub, and is owned by a vegetarian, so almost anything on the menu can be made vegetarian (they can substitute veggie meat for real meat in most dishes) and they have a large selection of actual vegetarian choices. It's located right on the main street.


Some other places to try include:

Ossawippi Express Dining Cars
It's a restaurant on train cars! Very unique dining experience and the last time I was there they had 2 veg items on the menu, both delicious. One is the Vegetarian
Wellington and the other is a Pasta dish. It is located at the bottom of
the main street, but it's in the park on Lake Couchiching so it's a lovely
setting, especially if it's a nice enough day to sit on the patio (although
you should definitely check out the inside too).















Quick Bite & Indian Cuisine
There's a small Indian eatery just off Hwy 12 called Quick Bite & Indian
Cuisine. It's farther from the downtown area, in the western section of
town. I've only eaten there once, and it was awhile ago, but it was good.