Vegan Stuffed Cabbage Rolls
These pecan meat stuffed cabbage rolls make a delightful lunch or dinner.
This recipe was born out of simply trying to integrate more veg into some leftovers. On Monday, I made burrito bowls for dinner with pecan meat, corn, quinoa, sweet potato, sauteed peppers and onions. Today, I wanted more veg packed into the meal because I’m eating whole foods and variety is the spice of life. Usually, I would just stir fry the cabbage into my mince, but I had a Tex-Mex thing going and stir fry just didn’t fit.
Right about now, you might be asking how do stuffed cabbage leaves fit? Or simply saying “make it make sense.” And to you, I say, “I wanted stuffed cabbage leaves, so it made sense to me and I made a Mexican inspired sauce to go with it, so there [insert sticking tongue out emoji]! It was delicious, so stop wondering if it made sense and just let me tell you the recipe…
Ingredients
1/2 head of cabbage steamed
1–2 cups of pecan meat (pecans, green bell pepper, onion)
1 can of diced tomatoes
1 clove of garlic
Geera (Cumin)
Black Pepper
Salt-free multi-spice seasoning
Agave
First things first
Wash and core your cabbage.
Add it to a steamer or a colander over a pot of boiling water.
Season with a little bit of salt-free seasoning.
Let steam until the leaves are easily pulled apart.
Mince it up
As your cabbage steams, make your mince.
You can use any version of pecan meat you like. In the pastelle recipe from a couple weeks back, I used a pecan and mushroom mince. For this recipe, I just boiled my pecans in water seasoned with a little soy sauce, Badia Complete Seasoning, and a spoon of brown sugar. Once they were fork tender, I added them to the food processor and pulsed until I achieved the texture of ground or minced beef.
I, then, seasoned them up with a little soy sauce, ketchup, liquid smoke, Badia Complete Seasoning, lots of paprika and grated garlic.
Next, put a frying pan on medium heat with your favorite oil and a little bit of diced onion and green pepper. Sauté for one minute and then add your seasoned mince. Brown the mince and set aside.
Make your sauce
Add your diced tomatoes, paprika, Badia Complete Seasoning, and a hefty amount of geera with a splash of agave. Let simmer on low heat.
Stuff your leaves
Pull off the largest of your leaves, this is a quick lunch so 6–8 should do it. If you run across any leaves with large veins that aren’t pliable, pull the veins off or cut them off and use the parts of the leaves that surrounded them.
Then take a half of a tablespoon of your mince and put it in the center of the leaf. Wrap the leaf up gently as you would an egg roll or burrito. Add each stuffed leaf to your simmering sauce until you’ve completed all of them.
Dish up
A few of these would make a great stand alone lunch or it can be paired with any side dish you love. I served mine up alongside my leftover burrito bowl sides — corn, black beans, sweet potato and quinoa.
It was filling and tasty. I hope you enjoy this dish as much as I did!
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