You'd think it was Oktober with all this cabbage

For a while now, I've been wanting to make stuffed cabbage rolls.  For some reason, it just never happened.  I'd look up a recipe for it and get excited about making it, but then would change my mind last minute and make something else.  I've never had them but the idea always sounded good so FINALLY I decided to give it a try.  They definitely take a little time to make so if you want to try them, make sure you have the patience and some free time.  The ingredients were:

cabbage

ground beef

tomato paste

diced tomatoes

tomato sauce

onion

egg

sauerkraut

paprika

garlic

dill

allspice

lemon

quinoa

brown sugar

So the first things I did were to make the quinoa just by cooking it in some chicken broth and boiling the cabbage.  I let the cabbage boil in a pot of water until the leaves were softened but not completely cooked through.  Once the leaves were pliable, I put them under some cold water to stop the cooking process.  When they're cool enough to touch, you can start rolling.  You can also use rice but we always prefer quinoa. 

To make the beef filling, you take your quinoa and other ingredients and mix them all together in a bowl.  This includes the garlic, onion, beef, diced tomatoes, quinoa, lemon, spices, egg, and some of the sauerkraut.  

Give this a good mix and this will be your filling.  

To make the sauce for the cabbage rolls, I used the tomato sauce, paste, brown sugar, garlic, and lemon juice.  This sat in a pot for a bit just to mix flavors. 

To make the rolls, take a leaf of cabbage and dry it off.  Place enough filling on the inside and start rolling from the bottom up.  About halfway through, fold in the ends and then finish rolling up to the top.  

I think I was able to make about 15 or so.  At some point, the leaves become too small and there's really no point.  You just take the rest of the cabbage and chop it up.  

In a big pot, I put some sauerkraut and the chopped cabbage remains on the bottom.  Then I started layering my cabbage rolls.  I put a layer of cabbage rolls then poured some tomato sauce on top.  This was continued until the rolls were all gone, ending with sauce on top.  Make sure to put the rolls in the pot, seam side down.  

This cooked for about an hour or so with the lid on.  It will start to simmer so make sure the heat is turned down so it doesn't boil.  

So I must say that this was a very successful dish!  The cabbage didn't fall apart and I was able to get them out of the pot still in roll form.  The sauerkraut from the bottom of the pot had enough sauce on it and made for a good side dish to the already full of cabbage meal.  All the flavors blended nicely together.  The sweetness from the tomato balanced out the sour from the kraut and cabbage.  The best part about this meal is that it's low cal.  It also made really good leftovers and tasted great cold the next day.