Quick & Simple Cabbage Rolls
Savor the simplicity of seasonal ingredients in every bite of these comforting cabbage rolls, filled with rice and sunflower seeds and smothered in a rich tomato sauce.
Equipment
- 1 Spice / Coffee Grinder
- 1 Pot
Ingredients
Simple Cabbage Rolls
- 1 cup rice dried I use brown rice
- 6-12 ea cabbage leaves whole
- ½ tsp garlic granulated
- 3 tbsp sunflower seeds hulled
- 1 ea bay leaf dried
- ¼ tsp celery seed ground
Tomato Sauce
- 1.5 cups tomatoes skins on
- 1 cup tomato paste
- 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- ½ tsp garlic granulated 1 tbsp fresh
- 1 cup water
Instructions
- Cook your rice until there is about 10-15 minutes left. Add your whole cabbage leaves directly on top of the rice and replace the lid so it steams it at the same time. No steamer needed! Hint: if you tear the cabbage leaves a bit it's not a big deal, try using a knife to cut the leaf at the thickest part and then peel the leaf off from the thinnest part of the leaf.
- Remove your cabbage leaves from the rice pot when they are softened and bright green, run them under cold water, and set them aside. Blend your dried granulated garlic, sunflower seeds, celery seeds, and bay leaf into a powder and add all but 1 tablespoon to the rice (we will be adding 1 tablespoon to the tomato sauce.) Reserve your rice so we can reuse the pot.
- Bring a pot up to medium heat and add your tomatoes; cook until they start to caramelize a bit a blister, not burn. At that point you want to mash them up a bit: with grape tomatoes, I just "burst" them by pressing them against the edge of the pot with a spoon.
- Now add the 1 tablespoon of the sunflower/celery seed/bay-leaf powder to the tomatoes as well as the garlic powder, balsamic, and tomato paste, mix well. Cook until the tomato paste darkens then add the water.
- As the sauce thickens we'll stuff the cabbage rolls. Add about 1 half a cup of the rice mix to the leafy (thinner) side of the cabbage leaf, now fold over the left and right sides, and then roll the cabbage into a little burrito shape.Place all cabbage rolls in the pot and sink them in the sauce. Cover with a lid and cook for 10 minutes or longer if you like.
- Great with a side of
sour creamy sauce, pierogies, and a bowl of borscht!
