Meatless Cabbage Rolls With Lentils and Wild Rice

I had leftover wild rice from the pancakes last evening, but not enough to do anything requiring more than a couple cups. I don't really follow a recipe when I make this sort of thing, but rather I look around and use what I have. In this case, I also had a gigantic, locally grown cabbage. Really, I should have photographed it-the thing was monstrously large. I now have enough cabbage rolls to get us through the weekend without doing any cooking (hooray!) and everyone seemed happy enough to tuck-in. I steamed the first potatoes from the garden and served them tossed with some parsley/garlic butter-that really made the meal.

A Recipe of Sorts for Wild Rice Cabbage Rolls:

Remove as many leaves as you can somewhat intact from a large head of cabbage. Blanch them in boiling water for a couple minutes. Drain. Set aside.

Make Filling:

Combine cooked lentils, cooked rice (wild, brown, white-whatever) shredded carrots, chopped parsley, salt/pepper, 1 or 2 eggs depending on how many rolls you are making, and enough dry bread crumbs to hold it all together. Roll filling in cabbage leaves and layer in a deep casserole. For the liquid, I use 1 large tin of tomatoes, juice and all (crush the tomatoes quickly in your hand before tossing them in) 2 cubes of veggie soup base, shredded carrot, chopped garlic, chopped onion, a couple bay leaves, and a good grinding of black pepper. Pour this over the cabbage rolls. If there isn't enough liquid, add water, or a small tin of tomato sauce. If you like, drizzle with a bit of oil or dot with butter (some people really need that fattiness in a cabbage roll, or they feel deprived. I don't do this, but if you were trying to transition from meat to meatless, it might help). Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees F. for 30 minutes. Remove foil, bake another 30 minutes, basting occasionally when the tops look dry.

That's pretty much it. They re-heat well in a microwave. As they are meatless, the rolls are pretty good cold as well.