Posts Tagged ‘cabbage’

photo by "pain_amp1013" on flickr.com

My Ukranian Mother-in-law used to make what she called “Smashed Cabbage Rolls” all the time and it was always one of my favourite meals.

Basically instead of making cabbage rolls (or stuffed cabbage) by hand, which can be time consuming, she’d often just chop up cabbage and mix it with rice, onions and ground beef in a big roasting pan, top it with canned tomatoes and cook it in the oven. All of the taste of cabbage rolls with a lot less prep time.

Last night I made cabbage casserole myself for the first time. I didn’t make it quite like she did but the kids liked it enough to go for seconds and 19 year old Girlchild announced that she’d be “down” with having it for dinner once every week or two.

It’s basic so far…

Smashed Cabbage Rolls

half head of cabbage, coarsely chopped (about 3 cups of cabbage)

2 onions, sliced

1 tablespoon oil

5 hot Italian sausages, cooked and chopped into 1/2 chunks

3 cups of cooked brown rice

1 can of diced tomatoes

1 tablespoon oil

Saute the cabbage and onions in the oil over medium heat until the onions start to brown and the cabbage softens. Mix with remain ingredients, put into large casserole dish, cover and bake at 300 F for 30 minutes.

Makes 6 – 8 servings

I was surprised by how much the kids liked this. Both kids said they preferred the chunks of sausage instead of the ground beef (which Girlchild says “creeps her out”). This is inexpensive to make, takes very little time, freezes and reheats easily, and is healthy and gluten free. And the kids liked it. What more can I ask for?

Update: I found The Gluten-Free Homemaker today and added this post to her “What do you eat that’s gluten free” Mr. Linky. Head over there for more great recipes!