Vegan Stuffed Cabbage

2013_03_01bThis was definitely out of my comfort zone. I’ve never made stuffed cabbage before, let alone vegan stuffed cabbage. The photo from the recipe page from Vegan Yack Attack was so enticing though, I really wanted to try it.

I grew up having my mom’s Polish stuffed cabbage and enjoyed it and all of it’s juicy beefy goodness. I knew this recipe was not meat, but the photo still made my mouth water. But it was hard to tell if it looked good because I was reminiscing the beef stuffed cabbage, or if the idea of a meatless stuffed cabbage sounded just as good.

This dish required the most effort this week by far. But I think regular stuffed cabbage is pretty labor intensive too.

This also involved an introduction to a new ingredient called, TVP: Textured Vegetable Protein. I’m still not sure exactly what it is, but it looked like a grain of some sort.

So after a lot of prep, soaking, mixing, boiling, wrapping, and baking, it was time for the moment of truth. The first bite.

I was amazed at the texture. It was not mushy like a bean and lentil burger is, like how I expected. It really did have a texture of a really fine ground beef. But the flavor, I really don’t know how to describe it. To be honest, I’m still thinking about it. It’s a unique flavor that my brain can’t relate to anything else. It reminds me of how I felt the first time I tried some of Aya’s Japanese food for the first time. I never tasted anything like that before and had no previous experience to compare it to. But over time, those foods have become some of my favorites.

Our overall impression was that this was really good. Good enough that we are excited to have it again. We were even thinking this “meat” mixture could be used to make burritos or tacos too.

I do think that if I completely gave up meat, this would definitely satisfy any craving I’d have for eating Polish stuffed cabbage. However, I’m not sure I’d want to eat these meat substitutes and TVP on a regular basis. But just as the vegan mac and cheese, we are definitely glad we tried this!

RECIPES:

Vegan Stuffed Cabbage

 

Halushki and Dill Pickle Soup

2013_02_12aI decided to cook Polish this year for Fat Tuesday to accompany my pazckis. My mom made halushki when I was growing up and I loved it. It was such an odd combination of ingredients. Noodles, bacon, cottage cheese, potatoes, and topped with sugar. Something about it really works. Aya loves when I make this one. Even her mom loves it!

As far as authentic Polish, I really have no idea if this is or not. This recipe could be Polish, or it could be Hungarian. My aunt makes a halushki dish too, but it is completely different than this.

This was Ellie’s first time eating halushki and I found it funny that in being a true halvsie kid, she used her chopsticks.

This was my first time making dill pickle soup. I used a recipe recommended from my friend. I really liked how it turned out. It was just the right amount of pickle flavor. I didn’t add the extra chicken bullion cubes and used soy milk instead of regular milk. But everything else I did according to the directions.

RECIPES:

Halushki

My mom wasn’t very detailed with this recipe. There was a lot of “a little bit of this,” “approximately,” and “maybe” when she told me the recipe.

Ingredients:
Potatoes(3) peeled and cubed
Onion (1) diced
6 strips of bacon
About 8oz. wide egg noodles
Almost 16oz. of cottage cheese
Salt and pepper to taste
Dried parsley
Sugar

Cook the bacon and set aside. Brown the onion. Cook the potatoes in boiling water. Cook noodles in a separate pot. Once everything is cooked, combine in same pan as the onion. Crumble the bacon on top and mix. Add the cottage cheese while noodles are hot and combine. Serve on plate and sprinkle with sugar. It sounds so gross, but it’s really good.

2013_02_12bDill Pickle Soup

Ingredients:
8 cups chicken stock
2 cubes chicken bullion
1 large carrot – grated
2 cups peeled, cubed potatoes
1 cup chopped celery
5 small dill pickles – grated
1/2 cup milk
2 Tbs flour
1 egg
5 Tbs sour cream
salt and pepper to taste
Fresh dill – finely chopped

In a large saucepan, combine chicken stock, bouillon, carrot, potatoes, and celery. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and cook covered over low heat until potatoes start to get soft.

Add pickles and continue cooking about 15 min. In a small bowl, beat milk and flour until smooth then stir in a small amount of the hot soup. Add this mixture to the soup pot and bring all to a boil until slightly thickened. Remove from heat.

In a small bowl, beat egg and sour cream until smooth and stir in a small amount of the hot soup. Add this mixture to soup. Keep soup warm but do not boil, as this will make it curdle. Garnish with dill.

Haluski and Czernina

Haluski, czernina (duck blood soup), a garden salad, and a paczki for dessert.  With it being Noodle Week and Fat Tuesday, this was the perfect dish.  It’s Polish and has noodles.  Continue reading “Haluski and Czernina”