Stuffed Cabbage Rolls

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My husband bought a huge head of cabbage at the Farmers’ Market. One can only eat so much coleslaw so the pursuit was on to figure out what to do with it. There are an infinite variety of ways to make stuffed cabbage rolls. Instead of meat, use tempeh for a power-packed protein source, plus walnuts, mushrooms, and tomatoes. The sweet and sour combination is truly delectable. Make plenty; you'll eat more than you think you will and the left-overs freeze well.

2 medium heads of cabbage or one very large one
1 1/2 cups brown rice (I used brown basmati), uncooked (can also use pre-cooked rice – reduce the additional water at the end to ~1/2 cup if using this method)
1 package tempeh (steam 15 minutes, cool, mash into small chunks with a fork)
3/4 cup raisins
1/2 cup maple sugar or syrup
1-15 ounce can stewed tomatoes
1/2 pound fresh shiitake mushroom caps (sliced)
3/4 cup walnuts, chopped coarsely
2 large onions, chopped coarsely
1/2 cup lemon juice
1 cup water
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

• Bring a large pot of water to a boil.
• Core the cabbage(s).
• Take the pot off of the heat, drop in a cabbage, and let sit 10-15 minutes.
• Drop the cabbage into a colander to cool a few minutes, then carefully pull off whole leaves and set them aside.
• You should get 12-16 leaves per head.
• Repeat with the second head. (I got ~25 from one very large head of cabbage)
• Set aside the remainder of the cabbage.
• Combine the tempeh, rice, raisins, mushrooms, walnuts, maple syrup, lemon juice, 2/3 of the onion, and the stewed tomatoes (drain off the juice and reserve it).
• Place approximately 2-3 TBS of the mixture onto the thick end of a cabbage leaf, fold in the sides, and roll towards the tip. Place seam-side down in a large Dutch oven.
• Repeat until all of the cabbage leaves are stuffed (they will stack up to nearly fill the pot).
• Chop up the remaining cabbage and add to the filling along with the remaining onion, salt and pepper.
• Mix, and dump on top of the rolls in the pot. Add about 1 cup of water plus remaining juice from the tomatoes.
• Cover the Dutch oven, place into pre-heated oven at 350 degrees F. Cook 45-60 minutes until the cabbage rolls are steamed and limp and the rice is cooked.

You can then serve immediately, or reheat the next day. It reheats and freezes well.

Spoon 2-3 rolls onto a plate with some of the extra filling. I served this with an an additional fall vegetable such as acorn squash, a mixed green salad, and a good hearty bread to sop up the delicious juices from the cabbage rolls.

P.O. Box 130221, Ann Arbor, MI  48113