Unstuffed Cabbage Rolls

Where I grew up cabbage rolls were a thing that we looked forward to every summer at the church picnics.  I won’t even try to spell the Polish name for them because I’m 100% certain that I will butcher it.  It’s clearly not summer (hello below zero temperatures), and I am definitely not planning a picnic anytime soon  (hello polar icecap that used to be my backyard), but this dish is also a great comfort food dish that is perfect for the cold snap we are are suffering through; but I digress. Back to fond memories of summers of a bygone era.

Every year, we anxiously waited for when St. Joseph’s had the barbecue, St. Rocco’s’ had the Pizza Fritte and Sacred Heart had all the polish food like stuffed cabbage and pierogis. All of the older women in each parish spent weeks shopping and prepping and cooking for these festivals and everything was gone, wiped out by Sunday afternoon.  Best food ever.

In creating this recipe, I obviously had to swap out the meat for another protein source, so I used quinoa and grated tofu.  I also found that wrapping the stuffing inside the cabbage leaves is a bit time consuming since you have to soften the leaves first by boiling them.  This can be done two ways: drop the whole head of cabbage into a large pot of water or carefully peel the leaves and drop them individually into the pot of boiling water.  The second way is definitely trickier since you don’t want to rip or tear the leaves and make them unusable.  I found that cutting off the core on the bottom freed up the outer leaves, but for the inner leaves to come off easily, I had to cut a bit more off the bottom the smaller the head got.  You also want to only boil them long enough to make them pliable which is only a minute or two for the leaves and several minutes for the head.  In order to keep them from continuing to cook after you remove them from the boiling water, you also need to have a large bowl filled with cold water and ice that you can quickly plunge them into before removing them, drying them off and then using them to wrap around the stuffing.  See what I mean? A lot of work.

If you are doing it this traditional way, don’t add the tomato sauce to the filling.  Put a layer of the tomato sauce in the bottom of an oven proof baking dish and then wrap the filling in the leaves and place them seam side down on top of the sauce.  When the dish is full, pour the remaining sauce over and bake them, covered for 30 minutes.

Or you can make the “unstuffed” version that I have below.  Either way, you are getting a tasty dish loaded with protein and a good amount of fiber.

Ingredients:

• 5 oz. extra firm tofu, shredded on the large holes of a box grater
• 1/2 cup vegetable broth
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 2 teaspoons dried Italian spices
• 1/4 teaspoon paprika
• 2/3 cup diced onion
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup uncooked quinoa, rinsed
• 1 cup vegetable broth
• 3 cups chopped cabbage
• 8 oz. tomato sauce
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1.5 teaspoons Italian spices
• Olive oil or additional vegetable broth for sautéing

Directions:

1. Whisk or puree 1/2 cup broth, 1/2 teaspoon salt, onion powder, garlic powder, 2 teaspoons Italian spices and paprika.  Pour over shredded tofu and marinate overnight or at least an hour.
2. Over medium heat, saute the tofu in a splash of oil or broth till golden.  Remove from pan and keep warm.
3. Add the cabbage to the pan and saute 3 minutes or until crisp tender, adding more broth or oil to keep from burning.  Remove from pan and set aside with the tofu, keeping it warm.
4. Add a splash of oil or broth and saute the onion for 3-5 minutes till just tender, stirring frequently and turning the heat down if the onion starts to get too brown.  Add the garlic and saute for 30 seconds.
5. Put the quinoa into the pan with the onion/garlic mixture and add one cup of vegetable broth.  Bring to a boil (turning the heat up to medium high/high), cover with a tight lid and turn the heat down to low to allow the quinoa to simmer and cook for 15 minutes.
6. When the quinoa is done, pour in the tomato sauce, 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1.5 teaspoons of Italian spices and stir.  Add the tofu and cabbage back in. Stir well, taste and adjust the salt and spice blend.

Enjoy!