Ingredients:
Green cabbage leaves:
Steamed or boiled until tender, but not falling apart
Filling
2 cups cooked rice
3 Tbsp vegan margarine
1 medium onion – diced
1 bell pepper diced, red or yellow
2 ribs celery, chopped fine
4 cloves of garlic, minced or pressed
1/4 tsp 1/4 tsp salt
Sauce
1 14.5oz can tomato sauce
2 cups vegetable stock
½ tsp oregano
1/2 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp basil
Good Directions for Any Cabbage Rolls
Cooking the rice: Generally the ratio will be one part rice and two parts water. I like to do this process as a one pot step by adding all the vegetables, peppers and onions, and spices to the same pot. There is really no reason to take the extra steps of dirtying up a bunch of other pots. You can sauté some onions, to a dark brown flavor, which is really great for cabbage rolls.
Place all the ingredients into a pot, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer 40 minutes, until tender.
Add any additional ingredients like textured vegetable protein, nuts, craisins, or whole beans. Stir in well and your stuffing is ready to go. I will often stir in a little tomato sauce, or juice for a flavor blast and get the rice to a consistency that I’m looking for.
Cooking the cabbage: It only takes about 5 minutes in boiling water. You can add flavor to the water, but it’s really not necessary. I do put the leaves in the pot separately and not the whole cabbage, this will make your product much more consistent and easier to handle. Just core out the cabbage and peel the outer leaves. I will use the inside cabbage for salads.
Drain the cabbage and run cold water over the leaves. This will help the leaves have a more vibrant color. The leaves should be flexible enough to roll, but not overcooked to be falling apart. Once they’re cool and drained, they are ready to be stuffed.
Filling the Cabbage: Now that the rice is a little cooler and the cabbage is cooled down, they are ready to stuff. We are going to start at the rib, or thick side of the cabbage, and place a couple heaping tablespoons of filling as desired size. We are going to roll the cabbage, like a burrito, folding in the sides as we go. At the end, the thinner part of the leaf should be the last fold.
Sauce Topping: The sauce can go in a thousand directions, I try to have sauces that I can just mix and pour over the top, not needing to stove-top cook. Make your job easy.
Baking the cabbage rolls: I like to lace the bottom of the pan with sauce before placing the cabbage rolls in the pan. If you want to spray the pans to help clean up that’s fine too.
When placing the cabbage rolls into the pan, we want to place the last fold to the bottom of the pan, this will help the sealing. Cover the cabbage with the remaining sauce and ingredients and then bake in the oven, covered, for about 30 to 60 minutes at 350 degrees. You can always remove the cover and return to the oven for the last 10 minutes to brown the top if you like.
Ingredients:
Green cabbage leaves:
Steamed or boiled until tender, but not falling apart
Filling
2 cups cooked rice
3 Tbsp vegan margarine
1 medium onion – diced
1 bell pepper diced, red or yellow
2 ribs celery, chopped fine
4 cloves of garlic, minced or pressed
1/4 tsp 1/4 tsp salt
Sauce
1 14.5oz can tomato sauce
2 cups vegetable stock
½ tsp oregano
1/2 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp basil
Good Directions for Any Cabbage Rolls
Cooking the rice: Generally the ratio will be one part rice and two parts water. I like to do this process as a one pot step by adding all the vegetables, peppers and onions, and spices to the same pot. There is really no reason to take the extra steps of dirtying up a bunch of other pots. You can sauté some onions, to a dark brown flavor, which is really great for cabbage rolls.
Place all the ingredie
nts into a pot, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer 40 minutes, until tender.
nts into a pot, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer 40 minutes, until tender.
Add any additional ingredients like textured vegetable protein, nuts, craisins, or whole beans. Stir in well and your stuffing is ready to go. I will often stir in a little tomato sauce, or juice for a flavor blast and get the rice to a consistency that I’m looking for.
Cooking the cabbage: It only takes about 5 minutes in boiling water. You can add flavor to the water, but it’s really not necessary. I do put the leaves in the pot separately and not the whole cabbage, this will make your product much more consistent and easier to handle. Just core out the cabbage and peel the outer leaves. I will use the inside cabbage for salads.
Drain the cabbage and run cold water over the leaves. This will help the leaves have a more vibrant color. The leaves should be flexible enough to roll, but not overcooked to be falling apart. Once they’re cool and drained, they are ready to be stuffed.
Filling the Cabbage: Now that the rice is a little cooler and the cabbage is cooled down, they are ready to stuff. We are going to start at the rib, or thick side of the cabbage, and place a couple heaping tablespoons of filling as desired size. We are going to roll the cabbage, like a burrito, folding in the sides as we go. At the end, the thinner part of the leaf should be the last fold.
Sauce Topping: The sauce can go in a thousand directions, I try to have sauces that I can just mix and pour over the top, not needing to stove-top cook. Make your job easy.
Baking the cabbage rolls: I like to lace the bottom of the pan with sauce before placing the cabbage rolls in the pan. if you want to spray the pans to help clean up that’s fine too.
When placing the cabbage rolls into the pan, we want to place the last fold to the bottom of the pan, this will help the sealing. Cover the cabbage with the remaining sauce and ingredients and then bake in the oven, covered, for about 30 to 60 minutes at 350 degrees. You can always remove the cover and return to the oven for the last 10 minutes to brown the top if you like.
Recipe by Chef Mark Anthony