'Quick' Cabbage Rolls

It's that time of the year again when I buy a large cabbage, make a coleslaw and don't know what to do with the rest. Last year, I made a soup but this year I figured I'd try myself at cabbage rolls. I started looking online for recipes and noticed that it takes two hours to cook! I therefore chose to alter the recipe so it would only take one hour total, counting prep and cooking. In a shorter amount of time, I was able to create the same result, I am pretty proud of myself for that!

Ingredients
6 cabbage leaves
1 (240mL) cup white rice
2 cups (480mL) vegetable broth (any type of broth can be used)
1lb ground beef, extra lean
1 medium onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp (15mL) ground black pepper
1 tbsp (15mL) dried basil
1 tbsp (15mL) dried thyme
1 tbsp (15mL) dried oregano
1 1/2 cup (360mL) no added salt crushed tomato
1 tbsp (15mL) dried oregano
1 tbsp (15mL) ground black pepper
1 tsp (5mL) cayenne pepper, optional
Parmesan

Method
1. Cook rice as per package but instead of water use broth.
2. Bring a large pot to a boil.
3. Carefully remove six leaves from the cabbage and, one by one, let them soften in the boiling water. This takes about 5 minutes per leaf. The spine will still be hard but it will be removed before making the rolls.

4. On medium-high heat, cook the onions and garlic in a little bit of oil for about 3 minutes. Add in the ground beef, black pepper, basil, thyme, and oregano. Cook for about 10-15 minutes, or until you no longer see pink. Make sure that as it's cooking, you break the meat apart.
5. Preheat oven at 400 F.
6. Mix the cayenne pepper as well as the extra oregano and black pepper in the crushed tomatoes. You can skip this step if you use a pre-made tomato sauce, either homemade or canned.
6. The rice should be ready by now. Mix 1 cup of rice and 1 cup of spiced crushed tomatoes with the beef mixture.
7. Place a cabbage leaf on a plate, remove the spine with a knife. Scoop about 1/6th of the beef-rice-tomato mixture on the cabbage leaf. Fold one end of the cabbage leaf over the mixture, roll and tuck the sides in to prevent the filling from falling out. Repeat until you have used all the mixture and cabbage leaves. 

8. Place rolls in a 9x9 pan with seem at the bottom. Cover rolls with the rest of the crushed tomato and grate parmesan over each roll.

9. Cook for 25-30 minutes on the middle rack.

I served mine on a bed of rice because I had leftovers. Serves 6.

Apple Muffins

I went apple picking a couple of weeks ago and decided that buying 14lbs of apple was a good idea. I guess it was because apple picking is so much fun, but then I had to figure out a couple of recipes to incorporate apples into. One of them was apple muffins. I took my mom's muffin recipe and tweeked it to add in my home made applesauce. My applesauce is simply made with apples and cinnamon, so no added sugar, and I kept the peels to give it a nice pink colour.

Ingredients
Dry 
1/2 cup (120mL) white flour
1 cup (240mL) whole wheat flour
1 cup (240mL) old fashion oats
1 tbsp (15mL) wheat germ
1 tsp (5mL) baking powder
1 tsp (5mL) baking soda
1/2 tbsp (7.5mL) cinnamon

Wet
2 eggs
1 cup (240mL) vanilla or plain yogurt
1/2 cup (120mL) brown sugar
1/2 cup (120mL) unsalted butter or margarine, melted
1 cup (240mL) apple sauce

Method
1. Preheat oven at 400 F
2. In a medium bowl, mix dry ingredients together, set a aside.
3. In a large bowl, mix wet ingredients together.
4. Incorporate half of dry ingredients in wet mix. Repeat with other half. Do not over mix. Let sit for 5 minutes, the mixture will fluff up.
5. During that time, butter a 9"x 9" pan.
6. Put mixture in pan.
7. Bake for 20-23 minutes on middle rack. Test it with a clean knife or a toothpick by inserting it in the middle, if it comes out clean, it's ready!
8. Remove from pan and cool on a rack. Wait for the loaf to cool at room temperature before cutting it.

This recipe can easily be turned into muffins, bake them for 16-18 minutes. Makes 12-18 muffins.

Pork, Quinoa and Brussel Sprouts

This dish is delicious and simple! I just picked up pork that was on sale and mixed in a vegetable and a carb that I had at home. All three main ingredients can easily be interchanged. I just so happened to have Brussel sprouts and quinoa but this can also be done with broccoli, wild rice, chicken and your favourite spices. This recipe is also nice because you can prepare the meat and relax while it marinates for an hour. May I also suggest that you don't add salt to this dish because the marinade has plenty!

Ingredients
3 pork chops, remove fat and slice
2 tbsp (30mL) ponzu sauce
1/2 tbsp (7mL) fish sauce
2 tbsp (30mL) sesame oil
2 tbsp (30mL) rice vinegar
1 1/2 cup (360mL) quinoa
1 1/2 cup (360mL) no added salt vegetable broth
1 1/2 cup (360mL) water
black pepper
1 bay leaf
3 cups (720mL) frozen Brussel sprouts, thawed and sliced in half
black pepper to taste
pinch of cayenne
1 tbsp margarine, optional

Method
1. In a medium bowl, mix the pork, ponzu, fish sauce, sesame oil and rice vinegar. Let marinate for 1 hour in the refrigerator.
2. Just before the pork is done marinating, measure your quinoa, vegetable broth and water in a medium pot. Add the black pepper and bay leaf, and bring to a boil. Once boiling, cover and bring down to low heat. Cook for about 20 minutes or until the liquid is all gone.
3. In a large pan or wok, cook the pork with the marinating juice on medium high heat for about 10-12 minutes or until pork is cooked. Reserve in a bowl, covered to keep warm.
4. In the same pan or wok, cook the Brussel sprouts with black pepper and a pinch of cayenne on medium heat for about 7-8 minutes.
5. The quinoa should be ready by now. Remove the bay leaf and mix in the margarine for extra fluffiness.
6. Mix everything together in the pan or wok. Serve and enjoy!

Serves 3.