Vegan Sweet and Sour Cabbage Rolls

...We went to a party back before Christmas and the hostess made a Vegan Cabbage Roll as a main course for me and (I guess) a side dish for everyone else...

...they were delicious and I asked for the recipe...at Church the next Sunday she brought me a scanned copy of a page from one of her cookbooks...so I didn't think that I'd be able to post it here...but a quick search and I found it online at Better Homes and Gardens...isn't the Internet wonderful...


...start by taking off the outer leaves of the cabbage...

...cook the leaves for a few minutes...

...make some brown rice...

...trim your stems...

...chop up some carrots, celery and onions...

...I'm still loving my handy-dandy Pampered Chef chopper...it really does make quick work of chopping...

...mince some garlic...

...add some lemon juice to some marinara sauce (which I didn't have so I whipped some up with some tomato sauce and spices really quickly)...

...add some raisins...

...add a can of drained kidney beans, the chopped veg, and some of the marinara sauce to the brown rice...

...put a spoonful on your cabbage leaves...

...and roll them up tucking in the sides...

...I know the recipe calls for shredded cabbage in a crockpot, but I wanted just the rolls ready in about an hour...so I deviated from the recipe at this point...

...and placed my cabbage rolls on a bed of sauce and spooned some sauce over the top...

...and popped that in the oven...

...then just a little over an hour later...

...supper was served...some mashed potatoes and green beans on the side...sorry for the horrible light - it's so hard to photograph food at night...

...the cabbage rolls were delicious - I think I liked them even better this way - they were a little bit drier and the sauce was a little bit tangier (from being dried out in the oven)...

...DELICIOUS!...

Here's the recipe:

Vegan Sweet and Sour Cabbage Rolls

Ingredients
1 large head green cabbage
1 15-ounce can black beans or red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup cooked brown rice
1/2 cup chopped carrots
1/2 cup chopped celery
1 medium onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
3 1/2 cups marinara sauce or meatless spaghetti sauce
1/3 cup raisins
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon packed brown sugar
Directions
1. Remove 8 large outer leaves from head of cabbage. In a Dutch oven cook cabbage leaves in boiling water for 4 to 5 minutes or just until leaves are limp. Drain cabbage leaves. Trim the thick rib in center of each leaf. Set leaves aside. Shred 4 cups of the remaining cabbage; place shredded cabbage in a 31/2- to 6-quart crockery cooker.

2. In medium bowl combine beans, cooked rice, carrots, celery, onion, garlic, and 1/2 cup of the marinara sauce. Divide bean mixture evenly among the 8 cabbage leaves, using about 1/3 cup per leaf. Fold sides of leaf over filling and roll up. Repeat with remaining cabbage rolls

3. Combine remaining marinara sauce, raisins, lemon juice, and brown sugar. Pour about half of the sauce mixture over shredded cabbage in cooker. Stir to mix. Place cabbage rolls atop shredded cabbage. Top with remaining sauce.

4. Cover and cook on low-heat setting for 7 to 9 hours or on high-heat setting for 3 1/2 to 4 1/2 hours. Carefully remove the cooked cabbage rolls and serve with the shredded cabbage. Makes 4 servings.

Nutrition Facts
Servings Per Recipe 4 servings Calories406, Total Fat (g)12, Saturated Fat (g)3, Cholesterol (mg)0, Sodium (mg)1476, Carbohydrate (g)69, Fiber (g)15, Protein (g)14, Vitamin A (DV%)79, Vitamin C (DV%)116, Calcium (DV%)18, Iron (DV%)21, Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet