Yabbit's Cabbage Rolls
1 large cabbage
1 1/2 cups raw brown rice
2 tablespoons oil
1 large onion, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups mushrooms, chopped
1 teaspoon vegan chicken broth granules
1 tablespoon garam masala
1/2 cup pine nuts
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
4 medium carrots, coarsely shredded
3 bay leaves, divided
2 cups vegan sour cream
1 (5 ounce) tin tomato paste
2 cups water
1. Preheat oven to 350ºF. Remove damaged leaves from cabbage, score deeply around core and drop in boiling water. Loosen leaves as they cook and peel off 12 whole leaves. Remove cabbage from water, and cook loose leaves until nearly done. Drain well. Shred remaining cabbage.
2. In abundant water, cook brown rice for about 15 minutes or until half-cooked. Drain and allow to cool. Meantime, saute onion and garlic in oil until it starts to color. Add mushrooms, saute a few minutes longer. Mix the saute with the rice.
3. Blend in broth granules and garam masala. Add nuts and mix well. Stuff leaves with this mixture, folded edges down. In a large casserole with a lid, place half the shredded cabbage and carrot and one bayleaf.
4. Arrange cabbage bundles on top, top with remaining cabbage, carrot and bay leaves. Mix "sour cream," tomato paste and water. Pour over the cabbage rolls and cover the casserole. Bake approximately 60 minutes.
Source of recipe: This is my take on traditional cabbage rolls. They take some preparation but are well worth the effort.
SO HOW'D IT GO?
I made these last night, although I had to change a few things according to what I had on hand. I didn't have pine nuts or walnuts so I used slivered almonds (but only about 1/3 cup), instead of tomato paste I used a can of diced tomatoes (and reduced the water a bit), and I didn't have sour cream so I left it out (but topped the rolls with plain yogurt when I served them). Also, my casserole dish wasn't big enough but it was deep so I ended up stacking them and making 2 layers, so they took a lot longer to cook all the way. BUT, once they were finally done, they were very good. :) I will probably make them again, most likely with the same modifications (unless I happen to have sour cream on hand, then I'll use it). The only thing I would do differently is cook the rice all the way to begin with, and reduce the water even more. The rice still seemed a bit chewy, although that was probably my fault for baking them in 2 layers...but the whole thing would be done faster if the rice was already cooked.
Incidentally, my 16-month-old really likes it (I picked out any big pieces of nuts, but he's pretty good at chewing so I wasn't too worried).