Stuffed Cabbage Rolls

2 medium heads of cabbage or one very large one
1 1/2 cups brown rice (I used brown basmati), uncooked (can also use pre-cooked rice – reduce the additional water at the end to ~1/2 cup if using this method)
1 package tempeh (steam 15 minutes, cool, mash into small chunks with a fork)
3/4 cup raisins
1/2 cup maple sugar or syrup
1-15 ounce can stewed tomatoes
1/2 pound fresh shiitake mushroom caps (sliced)
3/4 cup walnuts, chopped coarsely
2 large onions, chopped coarsely
1/2 cup lemon juice
1 cup water
salt and pepper to taste

Stuffed Cabbage Rolls (cont.)

• Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Core the cabbage(s).
• Take the pot off of the heat, drop in a cabbage, and let sit 10-15 minutes.
• Drop the cabbage into a colander to cool a few minutes, then carefully pull off whole leaves and set them aside.
• You should get 12-16 leaves per head. Repeat with the second head. (I got ~25 from one large head of cabbage)
• Set aside the remainder of the cabbage.
• Combine the tempeh, rice, raisins, mushrooms, walnuts, maple syrup, lemon juice, 2/3 of the onion, and the stewed tomatoes (drain off the juice and reserve it).
• Place approximately 2-3 TBS of the mixture onto the thick end of a cabbage leaf, fold in the sides, and roll towards the tip. Place seam-side down in a large Dutch oven.
• Repeat until all of the cabbage leaves are stuffed (they will stack up to nearly fill the pot).
• Chop up the remaining cabbage and add to the filling along with the remaining onion, salt and pepper.
• Mix, and dump on top of the rolls in the pot. Add about 1 cup of water plus remaining juice from the tomatoes.
• Cover the Dutch oven, place into pre-heated oven at 350 degrees F. Cook 45-60 minutes until the cabbage rolls are steamed and limp and the rice is cooked.

You can then serve immediately, or reheat the next day. It reheats and freezes well. Spoon 2-3 rolls onto a plate with some of the extra filling. I served this with an an additional fall vegetable such as acorn squash, a mixed green salad, and a good hearty bread to sop up the delicious juices from the cabbage rolls.