Unstuffed the German Way

Move over mashed potatoes! Step aside Mac-N-Cheese! When it comes to comfort food, there's an age old dish that's making a comeback. Generations of Germans have turned to Stuffed Cabbage Rolls to fix their ills at the end of a stressful day, or to warm up their tummies while Old Man Winter blows. Now their secret is out! But, as much as I love the cute little rolls, who has time to wrap all those endless leaves of cabbage? This recipe drops the rolling without losing that homemade comfort food quality.

Unstuffed Cabbage

makes 12 servings

Tools

Knife

Cutting board (or surface)

Oven or Crock pot (4.5 quart or bigger)

Skillet

Casserole dish 4.5 quart (if using oven)

Aluminum Foil

Ingredients

1.5 lbs Ground Turkey (or lean ground beef)

1 Large head green cabbage, chopped

3 cups Barley, cooked (if you don't have a pot-buy the microwave version) (can substitute Brown rice)

3 egg whites

3 cups marinera sauce (or spaghetti sauce)

1 med onion, finely chopped

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

Directions

(If you don't have an oven, use a crock pot on high for 3-4 hours being careful to add a small amount of water if needed to prevent drying out)

1. Preheat Oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit

2. If using dry barley (or brown rice) cook using product directions.

3. In a frying pan or electric skillet (whatever you've got) brown the ground turkey and finely chopped onion.

4. Combine turkey, seasonings, barley, and eggs whites and mix well.

5. Use 1 cup of marinera sauce to coat bottom of casserole dish or crock pot.

6. Add 1/2 of cabbage spread evenly over sauce (hey, cabbage heads vary in size, if you feel like the cabbage layer is too thick then use less).

7. Spread the meat mixture over cabbage leaves and coat meat layer with 1 cup of the marinera sauce.

8. Add the other 1/2 of the cabbage leaves and pour the remaining sauce over the top.

9. If baking in oven, cover tightly with foil and bake for 50 min or until cabbage is tender.

Now granted, this makes quite a bit of Unstuffed Cabbage, but it freezes well. Besides, with a dish this packed in fiber and protein and so reasonable in calories, this is a comfort food you can feel good about treating yourself to a second helping!

The Nutritional Info provided is based on barely and ground turkey.

Nutritional Info

12 servings

Per Serving:

Calories 250.6

Total Fat 9.2 g

Saturated Fat 2 . 2 g

Polyunsaturated Fat 2 . 5 g

Monounsaturated Fat 3.4 g

Cholesterol 57.8 mg

Sodium 352 mg

Potassium 644.1 mg

Total Carbohydrate 22 . 7 g

Dietary Fiber 5.0 g

Sugars 0.1 g

Protein 19.9 g

Photo Credit: DoesJE via Flickr Commons