Vegan Cabbage Rolls

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).

(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)

______

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}

______

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.

Baked Potato with Vegan Cheese Sauce

Simple, yummy, filling, nutritious, high-fiber, guilt-free meal. Baked potato with chili beans, blanched broccoli, vegan bacon, and plant-based cheese sauce (link HERE).

-Wash potatoes. Place in 350 F oven. Cook for about 75 min. (There's probably a quicker way that I haven't learned, yet).

-Open can of chili beans, pour into small sauce pan, and heat over medium heat

-Cut rinsed broccoli into bite-size pieces and blanch (click HERE) in boiling water for 2 min. Drain.

-If using vegan bacon, follow directions. (Mine needed to be thawed, then cooked for 2 min each side on pan

-Slice skin off from top of potato. Mash the inside. Pour on hot beans with its own sauce, then top with cheese sauce, broccoli, and vegan bacon...or whatever toppings you are craving :)

Bacon tastes good because of the salt and fat (and sugar) combination

our tastebuds crave (pig meat doesn't taste good without those things).

As I was cooking this plant-based version, my husband and son

came in a said it smelled like bacon. They liked the vegan bacon.

It's good in a sandwich. It doesn't have the same texture

as pig bacon. When I knew how much the young pigs suffer,

it was easy to give up pig bacon. Additionally, pig bacon is a

Class-1 carcinogen...bad news for our body, the pig's body,

as well as the environmental damage from animal agriculture.

Raise-the-Roof Sweet Potato-Vegetable Lasagna

"Amazing" is what I wrote on the recipe page, p. 202. This is my daughter's favorite, and I made it for her as her last meal before leaving to study abroad. It has also become a Thanksgiving dinner tradition with family all helping to chop the many veggies. It's gluten-free if you use brown-rice pasta noodles. You can double the recipe or halve it (see photo towards end with dish sizes). And the left-overs are extra-yummy. :) There is more prep-work for this meal, that's why I save it for special occasions. It's so worth it, though! If you make the smallest version, the prep-work isn't too much. Bonus: you don't need to pre-cook the noodles.

Have you seen the life-saving documentary, Forks Over Knives? Fire-fighter and athlete Rip Esselstyn is in it showing how a whole-foods plant-based (wfpb) diet improved the health of his fellow firefighters and can be flavorful at the same time. This recipe is from his book, The Engine 2 Diet. I've been enjoying many of his recipes. His father is Dr. Caldwell B. Esselstyn, Jr., famous heart surgeon who shifted his focus to reversing and preventing heart disease, proving heart disease need not exist at all when following a wfpb diet.

Ingredients: (conversions not verified by my kitchen scale, yet)

1 medium sweet potato or yam, cooked and mashed

8 oz (127 g) frozen spinach, thawed, drained/squeezed (see photo towards bottom)

8 oz  (127 g) firm tofu, pressed, diced

1/2 onion, chopped

1/2 head garlic, all cloves pressed or chopped

4 oz (113 g) mushrooms sliced

1/2 head of broccoli, chopped (I should have seen how many cups that is. See photo)

1 medium carrot, chopped

1 red bell pepper, chopped

1/2 can [4about 5 oz (142 g) worth] corn, drained (can save liquid for cooking veggies)

1/4 tsp (1.2 g) cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp (2.3 g) basil

1/2 tsp (2.3 g) oregano

1/2 tsp (2.3 g) rosemary

1.5-2 jars pasta sauce [each jar at least 25.5 oz (722 g, 780 mL)] (may not need a full 2)

1 package (12 oz, 340 g) of whole-grain lasagna noodles (can use brown-rice noodles for gf)

1/2 c (113 g) raw cashews, ground (via blender, processor, or crushed in bag with hammer)

9 x 13 inch (23 cm x 33 cm) oven-safe dish

Aluminum foil to cover

L-R/T-B: yam/sweet potato, drained spinach, pressed and
diced tofu, onions, garlic, mushrooms, carrots, broccoli,
corn, red bell pepper, spices, ground cashews.
Not pictured: whole grain or brown-rice lasagna noodles,
jars of pasta sauce.

Directions:

-Do-ahead: Make sure the sweet potato is cooked (boil whole until soft, about 30 min, when knife can easily be inserted) and mashed, the frozen spinach is thawed and liquid squeezed out,* and the tofu is pressed and diced. *I tried fresh spinach, but the water content made the lasagna extra runny once cooked.

-Pre-heat oven to 400 F (200 C, gas mark 6)

-Sauté the onion, garlic, and mushrooms until onions are limp and mushrooms give up liquid, then place them in large bowl (reserve any mushroom liquid in the sauté pan)

-Sauté broccoli and carrot for 5 min. Add to same bowl.

-Sauté pepper and corn until just beginning to soften. Add to bowl.

-Add the tofu and spice to bowl. Gently stir and combine.

To assemble: (see the following 3 photos)

-Cover bottom of 9x13 in. dish with a layer a sauce. Add a layer of noodles, then cover the noodles with another layer of sauce. The liquid from the sauce will cook the noodles in the oven.

-Spread the veggies over the sauced noodles, add a layer of noodles then more sauce.

-Add the spinach on top (I have to use my fingers to pull it apart)

-Cover the spinach with the mashed sweet potato (plop it on then spread thin)

-Add another layer of sauce, then noodles, then sauce. Make sure the top layer of sauce covers the noodles so the noodles soften. The original recipe calls for one 25 oz jar, but that just didn't seem enough. That's why I list 1.5 to 2 jars of sauce in the ingredients. You may not need the full 2.

-Cover with foil and bake for 40 minutes

-Remove foil, add cashews, return to oven for 10 min.

-Remove from oven and let sit for 15 min before serving

Put thawed frozen-spinach in a cloth and squeeze
out liquid. Discard liquid.

8x8 in. (20x20 cm) cook 35 min/10 min
9x13 in. (23x33 cm) cook 40 min/10 min
11.5x17 in. (29x43 cm) cook 45 min/15 min

💚Happy Thanksliving! 💚

Sage and Onion Lentil Loaf

Gluten free. Low sodium. This is so good and tastes like a holiday! My 14 yo son LOVES this meal and asks for seconds. The recipe is from Dr. Pamela Fergusson, a registered dietician and with a PhD in nutrition. Click here for her website, PamelaFergusson.com Dr. Pamela was there for me when I was trying to figure out how to help my father change his eating habits during and after his stay in the ICU. You can find more of her recipes under "Blog" on her website. I wonder if these would make good "meat"balls. I may try that sometime!

{Additional links for: gravy, mashed potatoes}

Ingredients: (conversions not verified by my kitchen scale, yet)
1 C (227 g) dry lentils (green or brown)
4 C (1 L) vegetable stock

1/2 onion, finely chopped (about 1- 1.25 c or 120 g)
2 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
1 carrot, finely chopped (about 7" long or 60 g)
1/3 c (40 g) walnuts, chopped

1/3 c (83 mL) applesauce
2 T (28.3 g) ground flax seed

1 T + 1 T light olive oil (15 mL, 15 mL)
1/2 tsp (2.4 g) garlic powder
2/3 c (151 g) oat flour (see end of post on how to make own) - can use bread crumbs, too
1 tsp (5 g) poultry seasoning (thyme, sage, marjoram, rosemary, black pepper, nutmeg)
1 T (14 g) fresh sage, minced [or 1/2 tsp (2.4 g) rubbed sage]

for the glaze
1 T (15 mL) mustard
1 T (15 mL) maple syrup
1 T (15 mL) applesauce

5.25'" x 9" x 2.75" (135 x 230 x 70 mm) loaf pan lined with parchment paper or foil
(see photo below). Next time I may just coat bottom with light oil or non-stick spray.

Notes:
-If using water instead of stock, add 1/2 tsp of salt (optional if watching sodium)
-Rosemary or oregano can be nice subs for sage
-If using canned lentils instead of dry: omit vegetable stock and increase seasonings and salt
-If no applesauce: shred an apple (recommend granny smith apple, but any might work)
-To save time: make lentils the day before or prepare loaf the day before and cook it day-of
-The glaze is really good...you can double it, save half to drizzle on after loaf is cooked

Directions:
-Heat vegetable stock, add lentils, cook until soft (about 40-45 min). Check before draining.
-Drain excess stock from the lentils
-Heat 1 T oil in pan or wok and sauté the onion, garlic, carrot, and walnuts
-Stir the ground flax into the  1/3 cup of applesauce. Set aside for 10 min
-Mash lentils with a potato masher until about half of the lentils are mashed (you can use a blender or food processor for this step but it may turn out more-finely mashed)
-Preheat oven to 350 F (180 C)
-Add the sautéed vegetables/walnuts, 1 T olive oil, oat flour, garlic powder, poultry seasoning, and sage to the lentil mixture. Stir
-Add the applesauce/flax mixture to the lentil mixture. Stir
-Fill the loaf pan with the lentil mixture
-Make the glaze by mixing together the mustard, maple syrup, and 1 T applesauce. Spread the glaze over the top of the loaf
-Bake at 350 F for 60 minutes. Remove from oven and let loaf cool for 15 minutes before slicing

Re lining the pan with parchment paper:
just push it in and form the creases. Then
once you begin pouring in the lentil mixture,
the mixture will push the paper down.
(Trim the top).
Next time, I'm going to try without the paper.

Pre-oven

Pre-oven with yummy glaze

Out of the oven and sitting for 15 min
It smells so good!

Making oat flour:

I used old-fashioned rolled oats and a blender. Pictured here is a high-speed blender (NutriBullet). I wanted a rough-flour, so I only blended them for 1 second. For a finer flour, blend a few seconds longer. One cup of oats before blending will reduce the volume as shown below.

Turkeys can be very affectionate and form bonds not only
with their own feathered-family but also with people
and other animals.

Something else I didn't know:

Over 40 million turkeys are artificially bred into existence and held in cramped living conditions each year for our holiday meals. Their transport and slaughter prep cause fear and pain. Because of the high assembly-line rate of their slaughter, not all of them are dead when they begin going through the scalding, plucking, dismemberment, etc.

The good news:

We aren't required to eat turkey, and we don't need to. There are so many other plant-based options (which are healthier than turkey flesh)! And when we choose plant-based options, we are truly showing our gratitude and respect. "If my happiness depends on another being suffering, I need another kind of happiness." Choose ethics over habits.

OATMEAL: 2 versions

We have oatmeal almost each morning. It's simple, fast, satisfying, and so, so good for us. I do not like mushy oatmeal nor "quick" oats and prefer it to be chewier. The following is my own way of preparing this feel-good meal (I don't follow the container's directions) as well as the way my youngest son likes me to make his.

One of the key features of my version is that I barely cook the oats. So, get everything prepared before adding the oats to the water because it'll go fast (about 40 seconds). The reason I go quickly is for 2 reasons. One reason is because we don't like mushy oats, and the other reason is because we don't like mushy apples. Granny Smith apples are good for cooking longer (and the typical apple for apple pie and cobblers) but are on the sour side. We like sweeter apples, but those typically mush-up very quickly when cooked. (And shorter cooking may help foods retain their nutrients, too).

The Main Recipe

1/2 cup (40 g) 100% whole-grain oats "old fashioned"

1/2 cup (125 ml) water

1/3 of an apple, diced (approximately 1/3)
1 large medjool date diced

More-or-less of cinnamon, raisins, walnuts, hemp seeds

Have all of your ingredients ready.

Pour water into small pot, put onto stove, set heat to medium.
Add madjool date pieces. They will separate in warm water.

When water begins to boil, reduce heat to lowest setting (or just remove from heat if using electric stove).

Add oats then immediately add apples and sprinkle with cinnamon.

Briefly stir to gently warm apples. Do not boil or cook for long...just a few seconds.

Pour into bowl.

Add the hemp, raisins, and walnuts (or whatever variations).

Stir

To dice: cut the section of apple lengthwise then crosswise.
Flip down sections to cut into shorter pieces.

Heat on medium. When beginning to boil,
reduce heat to lowest (or remove from heat).

This series of steps should be within 40-ish seconds
if you want ingredients to stay firm.

Add your desired toppings, stir

🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱

Recipe for My Son

1/2 cup (40 g) 100% whole-grain oats "old fashioned"
1/2 cup (125 ml) water
2 medjool dates or 3 smaller pitted dates diced
More-or-less of cinnamon, hemp seeds

Have all of your ingredients ready.
Pour water into small pot, put onto stove, set heat to medium.
When water begins to boil, reduce heat to lowest setting (or just remove from heat if using electric stove).
Add diced dates, stir to separate.
Add oats and sprinkle with cinnamon. Stir.
Do not boil or cook for long...just a few seconds.
Pour into bowl.
Add toppings. I double the hemp for my son because he doesn't have walnuts

Cut dates lengthwise then crosswise

This series of steps should be within 40-ish seconds
if you want ingredients to stay firm.

Add hemp and stir
 

Kitchen Snippets
This painted stone with rock owls hung
above my grandmother's stove. Now it
hangs above mine.

Something else I didn't know: Feeding our growing population industrial meat is extremely inefficient. While about 40% of the world's grain is fed to livestock (and about 70-80% of the USA's grain is fed to livestock), a billion people go hungry each day. When we get this grain back in the form of meat, it comes at a significant calorie loss. For every 100 calories of grain fed to livestock, we only get 3 calories of beef and 12 calories of chicken back.

Good news: We can all fight world hunger by choosing more sustainable foods every time we eat. The less animals we eat, the less ranchers will artificially reproduce them. If we redirected all crop production for human consumption instead of livestock, we could feed an additional 4 billion people. 

All My Meals Are Vegan; Take It Slow

Like the "Psycho Salad" post where I post different salads for inspiration and self-motivation, this post will be reserved for other vegan dishes I make that we seemed to like ("Oh, yeah! Let's make that, again!"). They won't always have recipes attached to them.

The following video is Luke Cutforth's parody of Twenty One Pilots' "Heathens" video called "Vegans." 💚

Diced potatoes, mushrooms, onions, green bell pepper,
red and green jalapeño, Beyond Meat sausage, gravy (not pictured)

Chili beans, jalapeño, baked potato, blanched broccoli

Sautéd bell pepper, red cabbage, onion, and broccoli.
Tofu, noodles.

Baby potatoes and Beyond Meat sausage. Greens and sprouts