Vegan Cabbage Rolls with Thai Peanut Sauce

I haven't posted in a long time- apologies. I was busy having a baby♡ We were surprised to have another boy! That makes #3... which means Dad and the boys share a bathroom and Queen Mama gets her own:-) Score!

On to more good news... since I have so much time off of work, I have been trying some new recipes and I've been having a blast! Tonight I decided to make stuffed cabbage leaves. I was craving Dolmas: a traditional Greek dish (grape leaves stuffed with a dirty rice and a lemon sauce), but grape leaves are hard to come by here in this small town. I had some coconut milk and cabbage, so I decided to do a Thai meal instead.   I served this with salmon, but next time I'm going to make this the main course- they're very filling.

Luckily, the cabbage dish was super yummy. Easy too, and healthy. It was pretty inexpensive- and even more so since I used what I had in my kitchen;-) It would be easy to add or substitute ingredients.

This is what I used:

1 head of green cabbage (I didn't use the whole thing, just the big leaves- two leaves per roll)
3 cups cooked rice (I like Jasmine rice)
2 carrots, peeled and sliced julienne
1 bell pepper, sliced finely (I used red)
1 onion, sliced
1 head broccoli, chopped
3 sticks celery, chopped
1 can coconut milk
4 tbs peanut butter (I used natural smooth, but chunky would work)
1 tbs soy sauce
Juice of one large orange
1 tbs dried ginger (you can sub fresh ginger... I would have but I didn't have any on hand)
2 tbs curry paste (you can sub curry powder instead, but I like the flavor of the peppers and lemongrass)

(I would have LOVED bean sprouts, water chestnuts, mushrooms, and snap peas, but I didn't have any at my house and grocery shopping was out of the question;-) Something spicy, like jalapeno, would have paired well, but kids were eating this too so I left it out.)

Cook the rice according to the directions and set aside.

In a large bowl, combine all of the veggies. Add the rice and mix well.

In a separate bowl, combine coconut milk,  peanut butter, soy sauce, orange juice, curry powder, and ginger and whisk together well.

Add 1 cup of the peanut sauce to the rice mixture and stir well.

Peel apart the cabbage until you have about 16 large leaves. Rinse them well in water. Spoon the mixture into the leaves and roll up tightly, the roll in another leaf (each roll will have two leaves). Arrange them in a casserole dish, like you would enchiladas.

Close up after baking.  The leaves should start to brown, but not burn.

Pour the remaining peanut sauce over the rolls. Bake at 400 for about 25-35 minutes.

If you aren't into vegan, you could add cooked chicken to the stuffing. Shrimp or tofu would also be yummy.  The vegan version is the perfect "meatless Monday" dish.

Ginger Cilantro Salmon with Cucumber Relish

Busy Mama Recipes



This is another recipe I got from my mom.  It was one of my favorites when I was younger because I love Salmon and ginger.  I was thinking about it today, and I'm bummed- Kevin dislikes cilantro AND ginger (I know, he is weird), so I can never make this dish:-(  The only time I make it is when we have the kids (Stewart loves it) AND there is leftover pizza for Kevin to eat.

My mom made this a lot, and I'm not exactly sure where she got the recipe... maybe in her head, maybe a cookbook... who knows.  But, it's delish:

Start with the salmon.  Choose salmon that is pink and not gross looking (I can't handle when fish looks slimy and weird).   Thank God for Nessa in my seafood department, otherwise I don't know what I would do:-) 

I usually get half a salmon, just one fillet with the skin still on.  It feeds my family and we have a little bit leftover for some lunch the next day.  You can adjust the amount, though, depending on how many you're feeding.  (BTW, I have no idea how many pounds that is... haha)

Put the salmon fillet, skin down, on a foil lined cookie sheet or casserole dish.

Ginger Cilantro Marinade:

1 bunch fresh cilantro, leaves only, chopped
about 4-8 tbs fresh grated ginger, depending on how much you want
1 1/2 tsp Sesame oil
3 tbs olive oil, blend oil, or grapeseed oil
salt and white pepper

Blend it all in the food processor until it makes a paste similar to pesto.  You can add more oil or water to make it thinner if you need to.  It's very important to make sure the mixture is blended with no big chunks, because fresh herbs will burn in the oven unless pureed completely. Paint it on the salmon and let it sit in the fridge while you prepare the rest (or, let it sit overnight- I have found the longer it sits, the less "fishy" it tastes).

Cucumber Relish:

1 cucumber, peeled, seeded and diced (I prefer English cucumbers, which you don't have to peel)
1 red bell pepper, diced (you can use yellow or orange too, but red is prettiest)
1/2 - 1 red onion, diced
2 jalapeno peppers, finely chopped
1 1/2 tbs Rice Vinegar (if you don't like rice vinegar, you can use lime juice instead)
salt and white pepper to taste
*I have added dill a few times because my grandparents dry it so I have an overabundance each year.  It was never a part of my mom's recipe, nor is it really necessary, but it's yummy.

Preheat the oven to 350.  Bake the salmon with the ginger cilantro mixture on it for about 30 minutes.  Then, turn the oven on broil low and cook for another 3 minutes or so, watching to make sure the top doesn't burn.  Take the salmon out and serve with the cucumber relish on the side.  It's a very refreshing dish.  

I usually serve it with cilantro lime rice or spring rolls.  It makes a great bbq meal too, if you grill the fish instead of broiling it.

Leftover Idea:

Toss the leftover relish and salmon pieces with noodles.  If needed, add a dressing made with sesame oil, blend oil, lime juice, sugar, salt, and pepper.  Add some chopped broccoli and make it into an Asian style pasta salad, served with crunchy noodles.

Wine Pairing:

Sake, of course;-)

Alternative:

A lot of people don't like salmon (which is sad because they obviously don't know what they're missing).  I have had this relish and marinade on pork chops.  We made everything the same and then grilled the pork and served it with an Asian style rice salad.  It was great for a bbq! 

Thai Peanut Shrimp

Whilst on the subject of Thai/ Asian food, I thought I would share one of our favorites. My family loves this dish.  Again, you can vary the amounts and the veggies used as much as you'd like and it would still taste great!

2 pounds shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 bell pepper, sliced
1 bunch green onions, chopped
1 small can sliced water chestnuts
1 head broccoli, chopped
1 16oz can coconut milk
2 tbs peanut butter (smooth or chunky)
1 tsp curry paste (I prefer red for this recipe, but any kind will work)
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp sesame oil (plus 1-2 tsp oil of your choice)
2 tbs sake or rice vinegar
1 tbs dried cilantro
juice and zest of 1 lime
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 package Asian style noodles, such as Japanese udon noodles or stir fry noodles
chopped peanuts or sesame seeds (optional)

In a stockpot or in a large, deep frying pan, saute the shrimp in the oil until pink.  Add all of the veggies and cook, stirring constantly so nothing burns or sticks.  Deglaze the pan with the sake or vinegar.  Add the coconut milk, curry paste, and peanut butter and stir well.  Add the remaining ingredients and simmer until hot.

Cook the noodles according to the package directions.  Serve the shrimp over the noodles with chopped peanuts or sesame seeds as a garnish.

Good for the Soul Thai Style Curry

Typical Eastern Oregon Spring:  It gets really hot out; I turn off the pilot light for the fireplace; it gets cold two days later; and I can't figure out how to get it back on.  Haha... story of my life.  So to solve the problem of freezing my buns off in my house, I made a big pot of curry.

Personally, I am a fan of the Asian style curry dishes rather than the Indian style.  I still sort of mix the two whenever I make anything.  This is another recipe of mine that can be altered 1001 times and still be awesome. It is another one of those clean- out- your- fridge dishes that I love.

This is what I use in my standard recipe, although it changes almost every time:

2-3 chicken breasts, diced (or beef, or shrimp, or omit the meat to go vegan)
1 onion, diced
2 carrots, diced
1 head broccoli, stems and florets, cut into small pieces
1 small can water chestnuts, sliced
1 cup sugar snap peas, left whole
2 zucchinis, sliced
1 tbs dried ginger or (I prefer) 4 tbs grated fresh ginger
5 or 6 small sweet peppers, sliced (rainbows make it pretty;-))
1-2 jalapenos or hot chiles, diced
2 cloves garlic
1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped
1 stalk lemongrass, FINELY sliced or lemongrass paste
1/4 bunch basil, cut into chiffonade ribbons or dried basil
2 16oz cans coconut milk
1 small can diced green chiles
1 small can bamboo shoots
2-5 tbs curry paste (I prefer green for chicken, but red is delicious with shrimp)
juice and zest of 1 lime
1 tsp fish sauce (Nam Pla)
soy sauce
sesame oil

In a large stock pot, sautee the meat in the sesame oil (I usually use about 1 tbs, then add a little olive oil so the sesame taste isn't overpowering).  When the meat is done, add the vegetables and sautee until tender, stirring often.  Add the coconut milk, green chiles, curry paste, lime juice and zest, lemongrass, bamboo shoots, then add the fresh herbs.

Simmer uncovered until hot.  Serve over rice with soy sauce.

What I love about this dish is the food allergy/sensitivity/ limitation aspect:  It is dairy free, soy free, sugar free, and gluten free.  It can be meat free easily and still be filling ( I like to replace the meat with diced eggplant).  It's a great vegan or vegetarian dish.  It is packed full of vitamins and different colored vegetables and is low in fat and calories (depending on the kind of coconut milk and meat used).  It's a great, healthy, tasty dinner to make your family when you only want to use one pot and not dirty a bunch of dishes:-)

If nothing else, it saves you from freezing your hiney off on a cold day like today;-)

You can also do this recipe in a crockpot. Cook on low for 5 hours.

College Student version:
Use a frozen bag of stir fry veggies and a jar of premade green curry in coconut milk:-)