Sunday, March 14, 2010

This Dish Needs a Name!

The other night, my girlfriend had a fun dinner party and served cabbage rolls. They were amazingly delicious. She had filled them with turkey, rice and the usual things that I have found in cabbage rolls. It got me thinking...I'd like to make a cabbage roll that is completely vegan, and I'd like to switch out the typical Italian taste and go for something a bit more Thai inspired. Would it work? I wasn't sure, I hadn't heard of anything like it before (which doesn't mean it doesn't exist). I peeked in my fridge and looked in my cupboards to see what I had on hand (I was much too tired to go out shopping) and here is what I came up with...Please understand that I am not the best at measuring, so these are "guessstimates". I don't think you can go wrong, and feel free to adjust the flavors to your liking. Me, I like food to be a little fierce, to go "Pa-POW!" So if this is too intense, go ahead and add a little less garlic, ginger and red pepper flakes...

Title goes here... (Can you help me give this dish a name?)

1 head of cabbage
1 Tablespoon olive oil
2 inches of fresh ginger, minced
6 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 onion, chopped
1/2 leek, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
3 handfuls of deluxe mixed nuts, finely chopped (I just threw them in the food processor and pulsed a bit)
1 handful of arame, soaked in water for 10 minutes, then drained
1 cup cooked rice (measured after cooking)
1 cup cooked red lentils (measured before cooking)
1-2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon mirin
Juice from 1/2 lemon
A sprinkle of red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon "Better than Bullion" mushroom bullion
2 cups of water
1 can coconut milk
1 Tablespoon of Sate, from Penzeys Spices
(Sate contains salt, brown sugar, garlic, onion, coriander, shallots, ginger, tumeric, sweet paprika, Ancho pepper, galangal, cayennne red pepper and lemon grass)

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

To start, cook the red lentils in the water with the mushroom broth. While this is cooking, mince the garlic and ginger, or if you are feeling lazy, throw it in a food processor. Chop the onion, celery and leek.

Drizzle the olive oil in a large pan and heat to medium. Toss in the garlic, ginger, onion, celery and leek and saute for about 5 minutes, until the onion is shimmery.

Add in the soy sauce, mirin, red pepper flakes, arame, mixed nuts and lemon juice and saute for another 3 minutes. Stir in the rice and cooked lentils and remove from heat.

To get the cabbage leaves off the head without ripping them, boil a large pot of water and remove the core of the cabbage. Toss the cabbage into the pot for 10 seconds, remove from the water, and gently peel the leaves off. Repeat as necessary until you have all of the leaves you need. Heap a spoonful of the good stuff from the skillet into each leaf, roll up, and place in a 13X9 baking pan.

In a small pot, whisk the coconut milk and Sate together, and warm thoroughly. (If you want to take more time in the oven, skip this step. I was starving and didn't want to wait.) Pour over cabbage rolls and cover. Bake for 45 minutes.

A couple of notes:
I used Sate because my girlfriend suggested to add curry with the coconut milk, and I didn't have any curry on hand. So I would imagine curry would work equally well.

The red lentils cooked into a mushy paste, which I liked, however you can use the green or brown lentils instead, and I would imagine they would be a little firmer and hold their shape, which may also be nice.

2 comments:

  1. what is mirin?
    Can you call them "Sate Rolls"?
    "Better than cabbage rolls"?
    "Thai-bage rolls"?
    I'll come up with a better name after I taste these...can't wait to try them!

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  2. Mirin is a sweet cooking rice sauce. It can be found by the Asian food in the grocery store.

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