HEALTHY VEGETARIAN QUINOA CABBAGE ROLLS

Healthy Vegetarian Quinoa Cabbage Rolls image

These take a bit of work but I think it's worth the effort. I love to eat these tasty little morsels warm, with a dollop of sour cream.

Provided by Jo Zimny

Time 1h35m

Number Of Ingredients 10

Ingredients

1 head green cabbage
2 c cooked quinoa (you can do this the day before)
1 medium vadalia onion
1-5 oz. pkg baby kale
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 c spaghetti sauce (i used garlic and herb)
2 Tbsp whole coconut milk (i used canned organic)
1 Tbsp tomato paste
1 Tbsp dried parsley
salt & pepper to taste

Steps:

1. Fill a large pot with water. Core the cabbage as deeply as possible. Bring the water to a boil and add the cabbage then simmer for several minutes to loosen the outer leaves of the cabbage.
2. Lightly oil a 13x9" casserole dish and set aside. Now prepare your sauce.
3. Saute the onion in some butter or oil until transparent. Add the 5 oz. of kale. It will break down to nearly nothing, but the flavor will be there.
4. Add the oregano and spaghetti sauce. Let this simmer for a 2-3 minutes. Remove from the heat and add the cooked quinoa, tomato paste, coconut milk, parsley, salt and pepper. Simmer a few more moments. Taste. Always taste to adjust seasonings.
5. Now check the cabbage, if the outer leaves are soft take the cabbage out of the pot and removed the bad leaves and recycle them. Remove what leaves you can from the cabbage. If the leaves under the ones you removed are stiff put the cabbage back into the water. Let the cabbage simmer for a little while longer. Remove the rib from the center of the cabbage leaf being careful not to cut right through. It takes a little practice but once you get the hang of it it's easy.
6. Scoop out a healthy tablespoon of the filling on to one of the cabbage leaves. You will note that the cabbage leaves tend to fold in on themselves. Put the filling into the leaf just above where you took out the rib. Fold the end away from you over the filling, then fold the sides together, then roll it up and set seam side down into your baking dish.
7. I got 18 rolls out of this recipe. Spread some more spaghetti sauce over the rolls (see photo) and add a little more salt and pepper on top.
8. Bake in a 350'F oven for about 30 minutes. I used my convection toaster oven so it took about 35 minutes. In any case make sure the rolls are heated through and the sauce is bubbly.
9. Serve warm with some sour cream if you like.
10. Enjoy!