Vegan Cabbage Rolls
These vegan cabbage rolls make for an easy, healthy, and light lunch option. With a flavorful filling and savory sauce, this dish is a delicious and satisfying meal that won't leave you feeling weighed down.
INGREDIENTS
- 1 medium cabbage
Filling
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 1 medium garlic clove, finely minced
- ½ medium bell pepper, diced
- 1 large carrot, diced
- 1½ cups textured vegetable protein, already hydrated and drained
- 1 cup cooked rice
- 2 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 2 tablespoon ketchup
- ¼ teaspoon cumin powder
- Salt & pepper, to taste
Sauce
- 3 medium boiled tomatoes, or 1 cup tomato sauce
- 1 small onion
- 1 small garlic
- 1 small piece of hot pepper, optional & to taste*
- 1½ cups water
- ½ teaspoon salt
INSTRUCTIONS
Filling
- In a large skillet, heat a teaspoon of olive oil over medium-high heat.
- Add the chopped onion and sauté for about 2-3 minutes until golden and translucent.
- Add the minced garlic and sauté for another 30 seconds until fragrant.
- Add the diced bell pepper and carrot and sauté for about 5-7 minutes until tender.
- Add the textured vegetable protein, rice, soy sauce, paprika, ketchup, cumin, and pepper. Mix all ingredients well.
- Cook for another 5-7 minutes and remove the pan from the heat.
Blanching the cabbage
- To prepare the cabbage leaves, first remove most of the stem with a knife.
- Heat a large pot of water and once it is boiling, carefully dip the cabbage in. Let the cabbage cook for 3 minutes.
- After that time, turn off the heat. We will only use the outer leaves since they are larger and easier to fill.
- Once we have separated the needed leaves, slice off the tough stem from each leaf and dry them well to prevent them from becoming wet.
Roll assembling
- Place a cabbage leaf on a cutting board and add 2 large tablespoons of the filling to one end of the leaf. Then, tightly roll the leaf, folding the sides inwards to seal the filling.
- Repeat the procedure until all cabbage leaves are filled. Reserve.
Sauce
- In a medium saucepan, bring the tomatoes, 1 small onion, 1 small garlic and a piece of chile to a boil.
- Once boiled, blend with water and salt (you can use the same water where you boiled them). Reserve.
Cabbage roll cooking
- In a large pan, optionally add 1 teaspoon of olive oil, and once hot, add the sauce.
- As soon as the sauce starts boiling, place the rolls in the pan. And with a spoon add some of the same sauce on top of the rolls, just so they absorb more of the flavor.
- Cover the pan with a lid and cook for 15-20 minutes over medium-low heat.
- I highly suggest you serve them with some lime juice on top.
NOTES
*I used a chunk of dried chile de árbol.
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