No Empty Fridge: Vegan Cabbage Rolls and a Holiday Review

It seems that the minute I got back in Toronto I haven't stopped. I know what you're thinking: school has just begun, how can you already be swamped? Well let me assure you, it isn't difficult. As much as I always look forward to going back to school, there is something ominous about the first week back. Teachers read out the syllabi, and you feverishly write down everything you have to do in your agenda. Well the first week has come to a close, and I feel that I am already behind, mind you I've been working my butt off.

So, for a break, I bring to you my delicious cabbage rolls and a review of my holidays in the Bay. I'll start with the cabbage rolls, which I served at New Year's Day dinner. Vegan cabbage rolls are a great dish to bring to pot lucks because they can easily be made ahead and they please veg-heads and meat-eater alike. After eating a couple servings of these bad boys, one of my cousins told me that she had no idea what was in them — knowing that it couldn't be meat if the Boileau's brought them — but that they were delicious. My mother and I then went on to explain TVP to the whole family (there was just under 30 of us at the dinner table).

TVP or textured vegetable protein is a soy product used in simulated meat products and as a substitute for ground meat for vegetarians. TVP is made by removing the fat from soy flour, and the byproduct of soybean oil extraction. It comes in small granules in its classic form but can also be bought at health food stores or in the natural food isle as soy chunks. Because TVP is a dry protect, it absorbs the flavour of anything you throw at it, which makes it a very versatile ingredient.

Shown above is the results of a double batch, which can be accomplished with one large head of cabbage. This recipe freezes well, so go ahead and double up on all the other ingredients if you want to make enough to last a while and use up the whole cabbage.

Serves: 8-12

Ingredients

1 large cabbage, frozen and defrosted
2/3 cup dry long or medium grain white rice and 1 1/3 cup water (or 2 cups prepared rice)
3/4 cup dry TVP
3/4 cup low sodium vegetable broth

Sauce:

1 Tbsp olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1/8 tsp red chili flakes, or to taste
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried oregano
1/4 cup red wine
2 18oz cans of tomatoes
3/4 cup vegetable stock

Filling:

2 Tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, diced roughly
1 clove of garlic, minced
1 5.5 oz can of tomato paste
1/8 cup red wine
1 tbsp soy sauce
2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley, or 1 Tbsp dry
1/4 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp coriander
salt and pepper to taste

Preparation

Prepare your rice as per package directions, either in a pot on the stove or in a ice cooker.
Hydrate TVP with equal amounts of boiling low-sodium vegetable broth (alternatively, can use half broth, half water). Just pour the broth on top of the TVP in a medium bowl, mix quickly with a fork, then cover with plastic wrap and let steam.
Start preparing the sauce by warming a medium sauce pot over medium heat with olive oil. Sauté garlic and herbs until fragrant, about 2 minutes.
Add the wine to the sauce, and let simmer for a couple of minutes to burn off the alcohol before adding the tomatoes and the vegetable stock. Let simmer for 10-15 minutes before removing from heat. The end sauce should be waterier than a typical pasta sauce to keep the cabbage rolls moist in the oven. No one likes dry rolls.
In your largest stock pot, or whichever pot fits your cabbage, fill with water until the water covers the cabbage (if possible, you may need to roll your cabbage in the water later if your pot isn't big enough) then remove the cabbage and set aside, bring cabbage-less water to a boil.
Start the cabbage roll filling: in a large sauté pan or wok on medium heat, heat up some olive oil, and sauté onions and garlic for 5 minutes, or until onions are translucent.
Whisk in the tomato paste, red wine, soy sauce, parsley, coriander and cumin, along with 1/2 cup of the prepared sauce.
Into the base of the filling, fold in the rice and TVP. Mix well and remove from heat.
With a paring knife, remove the hard core of the cabbage. place the cabbage in the boiling water and let boil for a couple minutes, or until the leaves start falling off a bit. As the leaves loosen up, remove from the head with a pair of tongues and set aside. Repeat this step until you feel that you have enough leaves, at least 12 but it's better to cook a few extra or leave the water on until all the rolls are rolled.
Meanwhile, prepare your 9x13" (or larger) baking dish by ladling in a couple spoonfuls of the sauce, enough so that there is a thin layer of sauce coating the bottom of the pan to prevent the cabbage rolls from sticking.
When enough cabbage leaves have been harvested and are cool enough to handle, remove any large veins or hard chunks. (These can be used in a soup of for a vegetable stock.) As you get to the center of the cabbage, more and more of the leaf will be hard, so you may want to overlap a couple of leaves if need be, or adjust the amount of filling accordingly.
When you are ready to roll, layout the cabbage leaf with the space where the vein used to be facing you. Overlap the two sides of the leaves so that there is no hole where you are about to spoon on the filling.
Spoon on about 1/3-1/2 cup of the filling into the middle of the cabbage leaves, making sure not to overfill the leaves to avoid spillage. Roll the filling up like a burrito: fold in the ends and hold with your outer fingers while you use your thumbs and inner fingers to fold the side closest you over the filling and roll tightly away from you to close. Place the cabbage rolls, seam face down, in the sauced baking dish.
Continue to roll your cabbage rolls until all the filling is used up and pack tightly in the baking dish so that your rolls stay together.
Poor the remainder of the tomato sauce over your beautiful cabbage rolls.
You can now refrigerated your cabbage rolls for up to 3 days until you are ready to bake them or bake them immediately in a preheated 350°F oven for one (1) hour covered with aluminum foil.
Let cool for 20 minutes before serving.