We had a mini family reunion where my cousin, Katie, lovingly prepared this dish with my veganism in mind. It was SO good. I was going back for seconds and thirds...and so was everyone else. Everyone thought she made a vegan one for me and an animal-based one for everyone else. Later she confirmed she only made the one plant-based dish. Family members were surprised and said they couldn't tell the difference. 🌱 💚 I brought left-overs home for my husband and kids to try, and they really liked it, too.
Katie is a talented "some-of-this and some-of-that" cook. So I had to pick her brain for her "recipe." This is as close to it as I can get with the exception of using brown rice, jarred sauce and slightly different seasonings.
This turned out REALLY good (although not as good as Katie's!). This is a keeper. I wonder if a mashed chickpea filling or lentils would be a good substitute for the Beyond Meat.
10" X 12" baking dish
Ingredients:
1 head green cabbage
3 cups cooked brown rice* ...I cooked rice in veggie stock
1 16 oz package Beyond Meat
1 jar marinara sauce** (about 20 oz...I bought a 32 oz jar but only used 2.5 c)
4 oz sun-dried tomato in oil***, diced (rough cut)
1/4 cup red cooking wine (eg Holland House)
1 cup onion diced
2 cloves garlic pressed (2 rounded T)
2-3 T fresh parsely
1/4 tsp chili flakes
1/2 tsp fennel seeds
1 tsp rosemary broken
1 tsp onion powder
1/2 T oregano
1/2 T basil
ground pepper
*Katie used parboiled rice (and she cooked the garlic cloves with rice then removed the cloves and chopped them fine)
**Katie made own sauce using 3 pounds of tomatoes: 2# San Mariano, 1# Margherita...Roma ok, too. She added 8oz jar sun-dried tomatoes, 1/2 c red wine, 1/2 sautéed onion, 4 cloves of garlic, rosemary, oregano, basil, s/p, red pepper flakes (seasonings I transferred to the filling instead). She cooked down the tomatoes (slow cook) and puréed them
***Could try dry sun-dried tomatoes (not packed in oil) and softening them in warm vegetable stock if wanting to lower oil content. (Make own sauce, too, w/o oil instead of jarred).
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| (Plus cabbage and rice) |
Directions:
Cook rice
Core cabbage and cook:
Instant Pot Method
2 C water in pot
Place cabbage core-side down
on trivet in pot
High pressure 7 min
Quick release
Remove leaves
Return tougher leaves to IP and heat for another 4 min
(Total IP time is 15-25 min if cooking twice).
Stove-Top Method
Fill large stock pot halfway with water. Bring to boil. Add cabbage. After a few minutes start peeling off leaves as they soften and drain them.
Slice off edge of center stem ribs to help roll leaves
(Need 16-18 leaves)
Filling:
In large bowl, add the rice, Beyond Meat, parsley, and seasonings.
Sauté onion and garlic
-can sauté with oil from jar of sun-dried tomatoes OR
-sauté using just water or veggie stock
Add the onion mixture to the rice mixture bowl
Sauce:
Pour jarred marinara into bowl and add the sun-dried tomatoes and red cooking wine
Pre-heat 325 degrees.
Assemble:
Lay cabbage leaf on surface in front of you with stem pointing towards you.
Put about 3-5-ish tablespoons of filling in the lower third of leaf.
Roll the stem-side of leaf over the filling and away from you.
As you roll at least one complete turn, fold over the sides of leave towards the center.
Finish rolling. Set aside on temporary plate seam side down.
Roll about 16-18 leaves. Slice remaining cabbage leaves. If there is filling left over, it can be used in next step.
Spoon a thin layer of sauce in baking dish.
Sprinkle the sliced cabbage leaves on top of sauce layer.
Sprinkle the remaining filling on top of the left-over leaves slices.
Place cabbage rolls in dish.
Pour sauce over rolls.
Optional: drizzle vegetable broth or just water along edges of dish
Cover snuggly with foil.
Pour sauce over rolls.
Optional: drizzle vegetable broth or just water along edges of dish
Cove snuggly with foil.
Bake at 325 for 2 hours 45 minutes.
(For the record, Katie baked at 350 for 3 hours)
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Instant Pot Cooking Method Option
Insert trivet. Add 2 cups water for 8QT IP. Layer rolls on trivet with sauce in between. End with sauce on top. Close lid and seal it. Press Pressure Cook/Manual button. 20 minutes High pressure. Natural release for 15 minutes. (Turn on sound to help time things if needed). Then turn the steam release knob to Venting. {Tips from simplyhappyfoodie dot com}
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Something Else I Didn't Know: The US government subsidizes the meat, dairy, and egg industries with our taxes while not subsidizing fruits and vegetables...except for the plants produced for animal agriculture like corn and soy. This is why it seems like the produce section the grocery stores is so much more expensive than animal products. Lobbyists, advertisers and those at the top of industrialized animal agriculture are making the $$$ at our expense. It's difficult for smaller farmers to switch over to producing healthy foods for us when their income is better by supplying Big Ag.
Good news: We could solve world hunger with less acreage by phasing out animal agriculture and instead supporting farmers in growing fruits, vegetables, grains-for-people, nuts and seeds. We could then replant trees which were cleared to make way for the increased demand for animal agriculture...like the Rainforest which is being destroyed mainly for beef and other livestock. Wild horses would no longer be rounded up and killed for the sake of "grass fed beef." Water would no longer be contaminated from animal agriculture. Air would be cleaner. Diseases like heart disease, diabetes, colon cancer, hypertension, hypothyroidism, dementia, some kidney diseases, ovarian cancer, prostate cancer, breast cancer, many autoimmune diseases, ++ could be nearly eliminated.
