Stuffed Cabbage Rolls
I had such a wonderful Sunday: Baking, running, a fun lunch, reading, sunshine, a creative dinner, wine, good company.
We spent this afternoon in the hammock reading. I started Jodi Picoult’s Change of Heart. So far it’s a little depressing, but I’m hoping it grows on me.
After some yardwork and housework (we solved the screen problem in our bedroom and cleaned all the floors), the husband felt it was time for a Southern Mint Julep while we read on the hammock. I had a sip – and actually really liked it. I just love bourbon these days. A complete surprise considering I’ve never been a liquor drinker.
Dinner tonight was a KERF creation. We got a head of cabbage from the CSA and were a little clueless on what to do with it. I did a Google search for cabbage and came across stuffed cabbage leaves. With more recipe research, we developed this combo to stuff into the leaves based on what we had on hand:
Ingredients
- 1 head of green cabbage
- 2 servings of cooked brown short grain rice
- 3/4 a cup of cooked navy beans (or from a can – any beans will do)
- 1 small fennel bulb, sliced
- 1 carrot, diced
- 1/2 cup cooked collard greens (we used leftovers from the saag but you could easily leave these out)
- 1 tsp red curry powder
- 1 tsp garam masala
- Pinch ground ginger
- Pinch garlic powder
- Pinch coriander
- 1/3 cup egg whites (or 1 whole egg, beat)
- 1 cup prepared tomato sauce
- 1/3 cup shredded cheese
Method
- Preheat oven to 400*
- Tear large external leaves off of cabbage, and chop remaining inner bulb to use in sautee.
- Boil outer leaves for 2-3 minutes, until slightly wilted and let dry.
- Sautee fennel, carrot, and cabbage in a skillet with some olive oil or cooking spray. After 5 minutes, add rice + beans + spices (and leftover collards, if using).
- When all is heated through, remove from heat and stir in egg whites
- Portion mixture into cabbage leaves (about 1/3 a cup per leaf) and roll them like tortilla wraps.
- Place seam side down into a baking dish.
- Top with tomato sauce and cheese.
- Bake for 20 minutes or until cheese is brown.
Before and after:
Makes about 14-15 cabbage rolls. Serves 3-4. Each cabbage roll is appx. 90-100 kcal, including the cheesy topping.
I don’t like to drink more than 2 nights in a row, just personal preference, but since we had an open bottle of Chardonnay from Friday night, it had to be consumed soon! We invited Karen for dinner at the last minute, so it turned into a fun dinner party 8)
My dinner rolls –
With my wine –
Karen brought over another bottle of wine since our leftovers were only 1 glass’s worth, so I had to taste that too.
Pour #2:
And had another small roll for seconds. These were excellent!!! I can’t wait to try them again with other fillings!
I’m going to work out early tomorrow with the husband, so I’m headed upstairs to read in bed and hit the hay early.
VeggieGirl says
I LOOOOVE cabbage rolls!!! Brings back childhood memories, when my mom would make them all the time :0)
Em says
looks yummy Kath! I don’t know if I’ve had cabbage rolls before…at least definitely not like yours! Anything cheesy sounds good to me though!
Romina says
Those look so yummy! I’ve always wanted to give them a try, but they look tough, thanks for the instructional pics.
oatmeal says
That looks fantastic! Cheese + baked veggies–yum! Although with my horrific arts and crafts skills, any cabbage roll I make wouldn’t turn out as pretty as the ones you’ve got there!
BethT says
Yummy looking drink too. If you’re into bourbon these days, you’ll have to go here when you’re in San Francisco (hopefully with me and other readers if we can work out the details! 🙂
www.bourbonandbranch.com
Best drinks ever, and the hugest selection of bourbon you’ll ever see. It’s awesome.
Beck says
oooo, I love stuffed cabbage… but it’s usually one of those ‘turn something healthy into something gross’ type of dishes… I’m so excited to go grocery shopping this week for cabbage now to make your version 🙂 They look sooooooo delicious
Yummy, thanks 🙂
kp says
hey kath,
i love your website, very inspirational. do you have any ideas for stuffed zucchini? i’m a starving poor college student, who loves produces and especially squashes….i bought a big bag of zucchini the other day for 79 cents and made stuffed zucchini, but the only recipe i could find was a very PLAIN BORING breadcrumb, egg, cheese filling. it was just good, but there was nothing too great about it. i added some onion, garlic, tomato, but it still wasn’t anything to rave about. i would love to hear your ideas…
college student ma says
i love your website, very inspirational. do you have any ideas for stuffed zucchini? i’m a starving poor college student, who loves produces and especially squashes….i bought a big bag of zucchini the other day for 79 cents and made stuffed zucchini, but the only recipe i could find was a very PLAIN BORING breadcrumb, egg, cheese filling. it was just good, but there was nothing too great about it. i added some onion, garlic, tomato, but it still wasn’t anything to rave about. i would love to hear your ideas…
kp says
sorry, i did not mean to post the same thing twice, and i do mean produce, not produces…hahah
Heather says
Ohhh, is that Simi chardonnay? I love that stuff! The cabbage rolls look delicious, too.
I tried the nutritional yeast “cheese” sauce that you made a couple of weeks back and really liked it. I need to come up with more foods to put it on- other than just broccoli. But yeah, great recipe 🙂
mel says
I have a head of cabbage too and I’m making asian tofu (or chicken) lettuce wraps this week!! Hopefully they will turn out like pf changs…any ideas or tips?
Cara says
I am listening to Change of Heart on audio book this week on my road trip! hahaha. Good times.
Nick says
Never used to be a cabbage fan until recently. I discovered shredded cabbage in a bag and I now put it on everything, sandwiches, burgers and especially in peanut sauce stir fry. I’ll have to try stuffed cabbage now, but I hear it has a bad smell? I bet it still tastes delicious.
Richelle says
What a smart creation! Kind of like lasagna roll-ups but less carb-y 😉 Def trying those soon!
Kath says
BethT ,
Ooooo that place looks dangerous! But really fun. Keep it on the list for mid-July visit!
kp ,
I’ve never made stuffed zucchini, but if the deer stay out of our garden we’ll have zucchini and squash up to our ears in a few weeks and I will definitely give it a try. I use http://www.recipezaar.com and http://www.myrecipes.com for inspiration, so you might want to browse there.
Heather ,
It was the Simi Sauv. Blanc, but it was great! Glad you liked the cheese sauce 🙂
Nick ,
I’ve found purple cabbage to have a strange smell, but this green one didn’t at all.
Kath
Lauren says
What a fantastic idea for a lighter summer dinner. I’m going to make this tomorrow night for my boyfriend and me. Thanks Kath!
JW says
Hey Kath. I am currently reading Change of Heart too! I am over halfway done and wanted to say it does get better (well in my opinion). I loved the wedding video!:)
Kath says
JW ,
Good to know! I can sense things are going to get good soon 🙂
K
Foodie (Fab and Delicious Food) says
Dinner looks great! I’ll have to try it soon!