Cabbage Rolls

Vegan MoFo, Day 27

I had such high hopes for this dish, but frankly it was a disaster. Well, the journey to the end result, that is. The first red flag was that the cabbage had been sliced, so the leaves weren’t very usable. So I opted for romaine leaves and the second red flag was that they had gotten frozen in the fridge, so some of them were damaged. Did that stop me? Of course not, but it wasn’t without some colorful language. It was like a horror movie. I knew I should have turned around from the ominous signs in the  kitchen and got the hell out of there. But I stayed. I fought. And crawled out from the carnage a hour later. There had to be a easier way. Iceberg lettuce. I think that would have worked so much better. No horror movie re-enactments necessary. They may not be pretty, but the taste is incredible!

INGREDIENTS:
Olive oil
1 tsp garlic, minced
1 C rice, uncooked
1 C vegetable broth
1/2 red bell pepper, diced small
1/2 small onion, diced small
1-1/2 C shiitake mushrooms, diced
1 Apple-Sage Field Roast sausages, torn into small pieces
1/3 C walnuts, chopped
8-10 large iceberg lettuce leaves
Salt and pepper, to taste

Sauce:
1/2 tsp dried marjornam
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
4 green onions, or 1 large leek, chopped
4 Tbs Earth Balance margarine
1/2 C vegetable broth
1/2 C sherry
2-4 Tbs flour

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 300–just to keep stuff warm. In a medium skillet, cook the rice in the vegetable broth. In a large skillet, heat olive oil and garlic. Add bell pepper and onion. Saute for 3 minutes, then add the Field Roast and shiitake mushrooms. Saute until the mushrooms soften, then stir in the cooked rice.

So here is where the Wes Craven-esque stuff started to happen. I couldn’t get the cabbage leaves apart in one nice piece. I was able to get a few unscathed leaves, so I steamed them for just a couple of minutes to soften them a little. I didn’t have enough, so I pull out some (half-frozen) romaine lettuce which wouldn’t cooperate and roll up well.

I did the best I could . . .

I placed each roll in a 9×13″ pan, covered with foil, then placed them in the warm oven. To prepare the sauce, heat the margarine in a small saucepan, add the leeks or green onions. I had about 3 shiitake mushrooms leftover, so I diced them up and added them then, too. Combine the flour, marjoram, salt, and pepper in a small bowl, then whisk into the saucepan. Immediately add the broth and sherry and whisk thoroughly. Add more flour, if needed, to reach a desired consistency. Serve with rolls with sauce ladled over them.

So the end result was good, but the process was so much more painful than it needed to be. Have you ever tried a similar recipe?  Have any suggestions?