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)

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