Ok – this is an absolute favorite of mine and, aside from the time commitment, is extremely easy to make. This go around, I was able to use cabbage from my garden which braved the winter. That in my mind is  – AMAZING. Your Oven will be 350 for this, so when you feel ready to turn it on within your prep – do so – so it is hot and ready for you! In My opinion, there are 3 keys to this really being tasty:

1. Nice sweet cabbage
2. Tasty tomato sauce
3. A willingness to cook it until it is REALLY done ( 2 hours )

So what do you all need:

Rice Layer:

• 1 C. cooked wild rice. don’t cook it quite all the way through! As it will finish cooking in the oven. You know that moment when you accidently undercook rice and say. “Darn it, my Rice is not Done!” That is how you want it.
• 1 C. Of Tempeh
  • Tempeh is an amazing source of protein, providing 16 G of protein/serving
  • It goes great in this dish as a meat substitute – and is only about $3/pack
  • Here is a recipe to quickly prepare it
• 1/2 of a Large Onion
• 1 clove minced garlic
• One small egg
• Salt
• Pepper

 

To Prepare Rice Layer:

• Boil Tempeh 8 Min, drain and pat dry.
• Crumble tempeh to desired size pieces.
  • Season and prepare according to recipe
  • I like this one – it’s simple and tasty.
  • When ready, measure out one cup and set aside remaining amount
• Prepare rice. Drain, and measure out one cup. Add to 1 C. Tempeh.
• Finely chop 1/2 an onion, if preferred use processor for this
• Mince 1 Garlic clove
• Add Garlic, onion, egg salt and pepper to rice and tempeh

Cabbage Layer

• 2 C. of nice healthy cabbage – sliced thin
• 1/2 of Large onion
• 1 Garlic clove minced
• 1/2 Tbsp Olive oil

To Prepare Cabbage Layer

• Finely chop cabbage, onion and garlic
  • Set aside a small amount ( 2 tbsp or so for your sauce )
• Add olive oil to pan over medium heat
• Add onion and garlic to pan until translucent
• Add cabbage, mix, and fast fry until cabbage wilts
• Reduce heat – and remove from burner

Sauce

• 1 – 15 can of Tomato Soup or Crushed tomatoes pureed
  • My favorite for this is Annie’s
• 2 Tbsp of Cabbage/Onions, you had set aside
• 1/3 Can water
• 1 tsp olive oil
• Juice of 1/2 small lemon or apple cider vinegar to taste
• 2-3 tsp brown sugar or maple syrup
  • Adjust as needed to reach a balance between sour and sweet that suits you!

To Prepare Sauce:

• Add Olive Oil
• Add onions / cabbage / garlic you set aside
• Add all remaining incredients
• Taste/adjust until sweet sour palate is reached
• If you really like a sour roll, pickle juice is a great choice to add

To Put It All Together

• Add 1/2 Sauce to rice
• Add 1/2 Cabbage
• Leave a little bit out (1/3 c. or so ) to pour on top this will make for a nice saucy dish
• Layer Rice – Cabbage – Rice – Cabbage – Sauce
• In the above pic I had just placed a cabbage layer on top of my rice layer
• Top with a little Ghee or Butter if you like
• Add to preheated oven
• Bake until dish reaches your desired level of doneness
• I find about 2 hours is ideal