I've had cabbage rolls on my mind the last couple of weeks, so I finally made them. My mother-in-law makes голубцы (golubtsi) pretty regularly, so I wanted to see how my husband would like my take on these traditional Russian/Ukrainian cabbage rolls. I made a meat version for him and this plant version for myself by using mushrooms and beans in lieu of the meat.
As a side note, I opened an email today from Taste Cooking and their article It's Difficult to Talk About Soviet Food caught my eye. Naturally, I read the entire thing. At the end, there's a recipe for голубцы including a vegan filling variation that has mushrooms in it. My recipe was not inspired by this one! I read the article after I created mine. (Apparently, I'm not that original.) My train of thought was this: I want to make cabbage rolls...cabbage rolls have meat...what should I replace the meat with...I use mushrooms in my burritos instead of meat...yeah, mushrooms!...and ooh, beans! So, there you have it.
Ingredients:
2 cups cooked rice (I used long-grain white basmati rice, but you can use any rice you prefer)
12 carrots, grated
3-4 onions (3 large or 4 medium) finely diced
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup tomato sauce (not pasta sauce, just regular tomato sauce in a can)
2 portobello mushrooms (about 3lbs) diced
2 15-oz cans aduki beans, rinsed and drained (or any other beans you prefer)
3 T fresh dill, minced
1 large head of cabbage (I used savoy cabbage, but you can use regular green cabbage as it may be more tender)
2 cups tomato juice or tomato sauce (I used home-canned tomato juice)
salt and pepper to taste
Start by shredding the carrots using the small side of your grater, or use a food processor so you don't get carrot elbow (yes, carrot elbow; it's like tennis elbow but you get it from grating too many carrots). Finely dice the onions. Add a couple tablespoons of oil to a large skillet, then add the carrots and onions. Don't caramelize or brown your onions; just soften the mixture by cooking it down for 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally (the time goes by quickly when you're prepping your other ingredients). Add minced garlic at any point.
While the carrot/onion mixture is cooking, fill a large stockpot with water and bring to a boil. Cut the core out of your head of cabbage and tear (or cut) the leaves off individually. Add the leaves to the water and boil for about 5 minutes or until slightly translucent. Remove leaves from pot, shake off excess water, and let drain on a plate. It's probably a good idea at this point to preheat your oven to 325 degrees.
Return to carrot/onion mixture. Salt and pepper to taste, then add dill and the 1 cup of tomato sauce.
Remove from heat. In a separate bowl, combine diced portobello mushrooms, beans, rice, and about 3/4 of the carrot/onion mixture. Make sure all of the ingredients are mixed well. This is your filling.
Now it's time to wrap the rolls. Take a cabbage leaf and spoon a rectangular-sized blob of filling either in the middle of the leaf or at the pocket of the leaf's base. Fold the sides toward the middle, then roll it up. (If you need a visual, just search the internet for videos on "how to roll a cabbage roll.")
Place the cabbage rolls in a single layer in a dutch oven or any other large oven-proof pan. Pour the 2 cups of tomato juice or sauce over the cabbage rolls. Then glob the remaining carrot/onion mixture evenly over the rolls. Cover your pan with the lid or cover tightly with foil and bake for about 30 minutes.
