Jewish Stuffed Cabbage (Vegan)

This is the first vegan recipe I have posted here so far, because I had a pack of tempeh in the fridge. Usually I use cooked lentils. Of course, any ground meat would work too, but in that case you would brown it, drain the fat and remove from the pan before sauteing the other ingredients. In either case, for a firmer texture, add a beaten egg to the finished rice mixture before stuffing the cabbage. Also, I use vegetable juice rather than the traditional plain tomato juice here. It's mostly tomato anyway but it's a little more flavorful and it has extra vitamins, both especially important in a vegetarian dish. If you're a vegetarian though, make sure not to get "100% vegetable juice" not "vegetable juice cocktail" which has beef broth in it.

Stuffed Cabbage Recipe

Ingredients: 1 cup rice, cooked (not a cup of cooked rice), 8 oz coarsely diced mushrooms, 1 8-oz tempeh block crumbled, 1 savoy cabbage, 3/4 of a 48-oz vegetable juice (or plain tomato, either way drink the rest), 1/2 cup lemon juice (or vinegar), 1/2 cup brown sugar

• Cook 1 cup rice
• Cut core from lettuce and boil in a pot 15-30 minutes until very tender and cool under the faucet
• Combine 32 oz vegetable juice with 1/2 cup lemon juice and 1/2 cup brown sugar
• Saute onion, grated carrot, diced mushrooms and crumbled tempeh. When tender and browned a little, add the cooked rice and 3/4 cup of the vegetable juice mixture
• Pour half remaining veg. juice mixture into large casserole dish.
• Break apart cabbage into the large (and small) individual leaves
• Place 1/4-1/3 cup of rice mixture in center of leaf. Tuck sides over, then roll. You can press it together a bit to form it into a roll. Place in casserole, and continue until done. At some point you will realize you have too many cabbage leaves for the remaining rice or vice versa. Deal.
• Pour remaining veg juice mixture over cabbage rolls and bake uncovered at 350 for an hour, checking to make sure they don't burn (they won't).

Frugal Factor: 8 oz Tempeh; 2.99, 48 oz bottle/can vegetable juice; $1.49, 1 cup Jasmine rice; $1 (est.); carrot ($0.25?); onion, $0.30; 8 oz mushrooms (I spent $1 at the produce discounter but at Shop Rite it's $3); 1 savoy cabbage, $1.00; 1/2 cup brown sugar, $0.22; 1/2 cup lemon juice, $0.22 (based on the 32oz bottle, which at $1.79 is $0.40 cheaper than the little 7 oz one the looks like a lemon). $8.17 for 7 servings or $1.17/serving ($1.45 if I had bought the shrooms at the supermarket). As is sadly the case, using meat in place of healthful, sustainable tempeh and mushrooms would likely reduce the cost.

Buffalo Chili n' Waffles, Taco Night

Every now and then, I like to regress and have a good 'l fashioned middle American taco night. No fresh corn tortilla, braised tongue, lime and cilantro (although now I'm craving just that from Taqueria Michocana - scenic Norristown here I come). No, I'm talking about ground beef with pre-mixed spice packet, crunchy taco shelves, grated jack cheese, iceberg lettuce, etc.

The other night I had a pound of ground buffalo meat I wanted to stretch in to a base for chili. Instead of just cooking the meat with the spice packet, I sauteed it with two onions, then added half a can of refried beans. (For the vegetarians out there, this method is a great way to use TVP, which will benefit from being mized with stuff.) It was just as good, and I had lots of leftover meat mixture.

CHILI TIME! And what could be better with chili than cornbread? How's about cornbread WAFFLES? Waffles are great with savory meals because they catch all the sauce/gravy.

The Chili:

I use my 70's "Crock Watcher" for this but if you only have a pot on a stove, cook it on low for an hour.

Into the crock pot goes: The leftover taco meat mixture, a big 28 oz can of tomatoes, the rest of the refried beans and two 16 oz cans of beans (I like black beans. Your taco meat mix provides the seasoning, although I also add a tablespoon of cocoa and a teaspoon of cinnamon. Cook on high 2 hours or low 8 hours.

For the cornbread waffles, I used this recipe, found online at random. I used milk instead of buttermilk, subbing 1/2 cup of sour cream. I wasn't so crazy about it, so after the first batch, I added a quarter cup of honey to the batter. That helped a lot, as did waiting 10 minutes for the batter to set. I still think I'll try another recipe next time though.

The finished product looks great on a plate (above) with a dab of sour cream and some freeze-dried chives. Just don't reach for the syrup (or who knows...?) For the freezer portions, I filled my containers halfway and froze them solid. Then I wrapped the waffles, put one on top of each portion and put the lid on. That way, I can grab a portion and go, and toast the waffle while nuking the chili.


Frugal Factor: For the chili and waffles, I got 10 portions. The half of the meat left over from taco night was $2.50, $0.50 for half a spice packet, $0.25 for the onion, $1.50 for the refried beans, $2 for the tomatoes, $1.50 for the canned black beans. Let's say $1 for the waffles. Maybe $1.50. That's $9.50, or $0.95/portion. Use TVP or cheaper meat in place of the buffalo, mix your own spices and cook your own beans, I bet you could cut that in half.

Lentil Loaf: Trying a Much-Maligned 70's Hippie Staple.

On several occasions, I have read articles on vegetarian food that said something like "These days, vegetarian cooking is about more than lentil loaf." Well darnit, after years of seeing lentil loaf badmouthed in the media, I decided to actually make it. It's actually pretty good. (Tastes better than it looks.) Shown here reheated from the deep freeze in my office cubicle, served with mac n' cheese w/ broccoli.

Lentil Loaf:

• 1 bag dry lentils (2 ½ cups)
• ½ cup dry TVP (texturized vegetable protein) (optional, use less water if omitting)
• 5 cups water
• ½ cup smoked almonds (hulled sunflowers or pumpkin seeds work too)
• 4 eggs or 5 egg whites or egg substitute
• 2 cups dry bread crumbs
• 1 onion, 1 carrot + optional: 1 spear of celery, ½ Green pepper, ½ cup mushroom stems
• 2 tbs. sage
• 2 tbs. garlic powder
• 2 tbs. hot paprika 9or sweet paprika + ½ tsp cayenne)
• ¼ cup ketchup or BBQ sauce
• ¼ cup soy sauce

1. Combine lentils, TVP, half the garlic powder, sage (no salt!) w/ 4-5 cups water and cook covered on med heat until very tender (45 minutes) checking several times to make sure there is still some liquid in the bottom of the pan so they don’t burn (water absorption can vary)

2. Meanwhile, finely chop veggies and sauté in some olive oil on low heat – add garlic powder or fresh chopped garlic after they become tender.
3. Chop almonds in food processor, blender or by hand until finely chopped.
4. Drain lentils, reserving cooking liquid. Pulse lentils and ½ cup cooking liquid in food processor so that there are still some whole lentils.
5. Preheat oven to 350
6. Pour lentils in mixing bowl. Add all remaining ingredients except the eggs and bread crumbs. Taste mixture and add salt and/or extra herbs and spices to taste. Add eggs and stir until combined. Slowly add bread crumbs until mixture becomes more firm but still very moist (like watery mashed potatoes). If it gets to thick, like clay, add some reserved cooking liquid to loosen)
7. Spray loaf pan with oil. Line bottom with parchment paper. Fill with lentil mixture leaving ½ inch at the top, spread ketchup on top. Cover with foil.
8. Bake at 350 for aprox. 1 hour, until center has domed up some (it will collapse again later).Refrigerate overnight or eat now but risk some crumbling. If eating now, make gravy in step 10 while loaf is in oven.
9. Run knife around edge of pan and turn over on cutting board. Slice and serve (If chilled, reheat in microwave or in nonstick frying pan)
10. Serve with gravy [sauté pint of thinly sliced mushrooms and one finely chopped onion, add two cups vegetable stock (wine or soy sauce optional), bring to boil and stir in 2-3 tbs. flour (or 1-2 tbs. corn starch) dissolved in ¼ cup cold stock.]

Substitutions: This is a versatile recipe. Go wild. Go nuts. Wild rice for ¼ lentils or the TVP. Pistachios instead of smoked almonds. Cooked rice or quinoa for some or all the bread crumbs. Omit all herbs and spices and soy sauce and use a taco seasoning or vegetable soup packet in step 6 instead. Cook in muffin tins instead of loaf pan.You can't go wrong - worst case you turn it into sloppy joe's.

Frugal Factor: This is a great budget food item - the recipe below is about 10 good servings and costs maybe maybe $4 for ingredients. That's $0.40/portion - cheaper than a potato.