Nappa Cabbage Rolls and Homemade Vegetable Juice
A guest post from Karen:
This recipe is a 2-for-1! You can make a great glass of homemade veggie juice and then use the pulp for cooking stuffed napa cabbage rolls. These cabbage rolls are awesome stuffed with the wonderful grass-fed beef that Space Girl Organics offers. Grass-fed beef has a more steak-like flavor, and needs to be cooked at a lower temperature.
If you don’t have access to a juicer, you could use a food processor or finely mince the ingredients. You can also substitute a teaspoon of powdered turmeric for the root if you don’t have easy access to it.
I like to use Napa cabbage because it does not have a strong “cabbagey” taste, and the kids like it too. After it’s cooked, it almost seems like a firm lettuce.
Vegetable Juice Recipe:
2 carrots
¼ bunch parsley with stems
1 small green pepper
2 stalks celery with leaves
small green apple
small zucchini
1 stalk kale
1” turmeric root (or 1 tsp. of tumeric powder)
Prepare fruits and vegetables for your juicer and juice as usual. Save the pulp to use in the following recipe.
Stuffed Napa Cabbage Rolls:
Serves 4
Ingredients:
Pulp from juice recipe above
12 Napa cabbage leaves
1 lb. grass-fed beef
3 t. salt, divided
1 t. smoked paprika
½ pint chopped cherry tomatoes or 1 large diced tomato
1/4 cup water
2 T. organic tomato paste
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl, mix the pulp from the juicer, the grass-fed beef, 2 t. salt, and 1 t. smoked paprika. Pick out any large stems, skins, or seeds and discard. Set mixture aside.
Fill a large skillet with 2 inches of water and bring to a simmer. Wash cabbage leaves, and use a knife to make a v-cut to remove most of the thick stem in each leaf. Using tongs, blanch leaves one or two at a time by submerging in simmering water for about 30 seconds, until the color brightens and the leaves soften.
Make a small football-shaped ball with 2 T of the meat mixture, and place it on a blanched cabbage leaf . Fold in first one side and then the other side of the leaf over the meat, and then roll up.
Mix together ¼ water, tomato paste, 1 t. salt, and chopped tomatoes.
Place cabbage rolls in an 8×8 baking dish. 12 rolls fit snugly in the pan.
Pour the tomato mixture over the top. Bake covered for 15 minutes, then remove cover and bake for an additional 30 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes.
Serve with brown rice or quinoa. Pour pan juices over cabbage rolls and rice or quinoa.
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