Inspired by the recipes for stuffed cabbage I've been browsing through the cookbooks I brought back from Germany I decided to make a vegetarian alternative. Bulgur is one of my favorite grains and takes on a nice ground meat consistency when cooked with tomato paste and onions. In this recipe I rolled cabbage leaves with bulgur and baked it with my own tomato sauce.

Stuffed Cabbage with Bulgur
Yield: 9  cabbage rolls with sauce

Stuffing:
2 shallots
3 cloves of garlic
1 Tablespoon organic tomato paste
3/4 cup dried bulgur
5 small sundried tomatoes (no oil), chopped
1/2 to 1 tsp chili powder
sea salt
3/4 cup water

9 large leaves of raw cabbage
Boiling water

Sauce:
1 small onion chopped
3 small cloves garlic, minced
1 qt of canned, whole peeled tomatoes (mine are self canned)
a palm full of fresh herbs: oregano and basil, chopped

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Prepare bulgur stuffing. In a small to medium saucepan over the stovetop, saute onions and garlic in a small amount (less than a quarter size drop) of olive oil until transparent over medium heat. Add the tablespoon of tomato paste and combine. Add the bulgur and stir again. Drop in the sundried tomatoes. Pour in the water and bring to a simmer. Add the chili powder and salt (if you need it), stir, cover and reduce heat. You may need to add an additional small amount of water if the mixture is too dry. It will take approximately 15 minutes to absorb all of the water. Once bulgur is tender and can hold a stiff shape with a spoon, remove from heat and set aside.

While the bulgur is cooking, in a larger saucepan over medium heat begin to prepare the sauce.  Heat a large saucepan over medium heat. Add a small amount of olive oil to the pan. Add the onion and garlic, cook until almost transparent. Pour in the entire quart of tomatoes with juice, and break the tomatoes up with a wooden spoon to form a chunky sauce. Bring sauce to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 20 minutes or longer, reducing the amount of liquid by half. Stir frequently to ensure sauce is not stuck to the bottom of the pan. Add the fresh herbs when sauce is at desired consistency, stir and remove from heat. 

 Bring a saucepan of water to a boil. Add the cabbage leaves, make sure leaves are covered with water. When the cabbage leaves are flexible and slightly transparent,  about 10 minutes, remove leaves from boiling water and dab leaves with a towel. Place approximately 1/4 cup of bulgur mixture on top of each leaf and roll, folding the edges of the leave inside and roll up. More or less stuffing may be necessary depending on the size of the cabbage leaf. Place each roll seam side down onto a baking dish. Top with the chunky tomato sauce and bake for approximately 20 minutes at 375 degrees.

There are restaurants where we go with dear friends, catch up on our busy lives, and plan to be at the restaurant for a long time. Thai Wat is that kind of place.  Friday night I joined my friends Jamie and Mary Jo for dinner at Thai Wat.  Nestled between two large stores in a strip mall, it may be hard to mistake it for your common ethnic take out place. Once inside, you forget you've parked next to everyone else shopping next door at Walmart.   

Thai Wat has a diverse menu with ginger, lemongrass, curry and basil flavors, typical of Thai cuisine. Categories range from fish, duck, traditional meat, and those with vegetarian sides can leap for joy as there are vegetarian salads, appetizers, and entrees labeled just for us.

Service is very slow during peak hours. Plan accordingly. Although reservations are not necessary,  if you will be eating between the hours of 6:30-8pm on a Friday or Saturday evening, it is strongly suggested that you make a reservation.  Staff is always pleasant.  The restaurant is always clean, temperature normal, and the music is never too loud.

I ordered Jasmine tea, a light bodied traditional Thai beverage that is served hot.  It's a refreshing, light tea that prepares my palate for a meal of complex flavors.

My first course is a bowl of their Veggie Tom Yum.  In addition to the strong lemongrass flavor, there is a gentle hot pepper flavor that lingers on your tongue. On their menu, it is rated with one chili pepper on a scale of three. The broth is a very thin version of a typical sweet/sour soup, and glides right off the spoon. The body of the soup is speckled with a tender array of vegetables: carrots, snap peas, cabbage, broccoli, greenbeans, and onions, evenly cooked and tender. A small number of breaded tofu chunks soak up the lemongrass/spice flavoring and dot the soup.

I follow the soup with the vegetarian entree, Jack and Sue, pictured above. It is a vegetable patty formed to a heart shape, placed on a bed of cabbage and surrounded with a light spicy mushroom sauce. I highly recommend squeezing the orange over the patty as it complements the dried onion, mushroom, and vegetables nicely.  It is slightly spicy, but only ever so much that you can still taste the individual flavors of the vegetables with the slightest after thought of heat.  The patty is filling after the large bowl of soup and the sauce is just enough to adorn each swipe of the fork. The vegetables are the stars of the dish. There have been occasions where I have ordered this dish and the patty has been slightly chewy, not tender.  Although it has been steamed, the texture could benefit by a brief time in the oven to form a soft crust on the top. Otherwise the flavors are excellent, and the orange, dried onions, and mushroom broth are a perfect dressing to the multiple veggie patty. Thank you Jack and Sue, the vegetarian couple that supposedly inspired the recipe. It is my favorite meal at Thai Wat.

My friends ordered the Eggplant Stinger, a slightly spicy combination of sauteed eggplant with chicken and the Drunken Noodle, large rice noodles with sauteed chicken. Both dishes are slightly spicy.  The Drunken Noodles are Matt's favorite dish as well when the two of us eat there.

They serve a variety of desserts from coconut, mango, green tea ice cream flavors to a mung bean custard. I've never needed to order dessert, as I am quite full by the end of the entree.

My meal with soup and vegetarian entree cost about $15.00.

Red lentil squash curry with toasted pumpkin seeds on a bed of millet.

After taking an inventory of the vegetables I had fresh from the garden, and items in my pantry, I decided to make a curry. Curries are extremely versatile once you learn the cooking time for your desired vegetables and lentils, almost *almost* anything can be thrown into the pot. My own recipe is a combination of red lentils, whole tomatoes in puree (canned), carrots, yellow squash, hot peppers, lite coconut milk, and a variety of spices. Toasted pumpkin seeds work really well as a garnish. The millet is plain. It has a gentle bite but does not overpower the individual flavors of the vegetables.

Red Lentil Squash Curry
45 mins
1/2 white onion, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 can of whole peeled tomatoes in puree
3-5 cups of water
1 cup of dried red lentils
1 red long cayenne pepper, chopped
3 carrots, chopped
1 medium to large yellow squash, chopped into 1" chunks
1 standard size can of lite coconut milk

1 tsp cumin, ground
1/2 tsp coriander, ground
2 tsp curry powder
1/2 tsp garam masala
1 tsp ground turmeric, yellow
a few dashes of Cayenne pepper, ground (to taste)

Garnish: toasted pumpkin seeds (pepitas), chopped scallions

Begin to heat a medium sized stockpot dry, over medium heat. Lightly coat the bottom in a non stick cooking spray. Add chopped onions and garlic. Cook, stirring the onions until the onions almost become transparent.

Open the can of whole tomatoes and pour contents into the stockpot. Gently begin breaking up the tomatoes with a wooden spoon. As you add and stir in vegetables, the tomatoes will continue to break apart.  Add the chopped carrot, pepper, and stir to combine, adding water if necessary.

Add the red lentils, and spices. Stir and cover, 5-10 mins. While the lentils are cooking, cube the yellow squash.  Add the yellow squash to the curry. Add water if necessary to desired thickness.  Once the yellow squash becomes tender, reduce heat and slowly pour in the coconut milk. Bring the heat up slightly, stir, taste and adjust spices if necessary.

Serve on top of a bed of millet (or other grain). Garnish with toasted pumpkin seeds and chopped scallions.