Grain of the Gods

As you can tell from reading this blog, I love cooking with my slow cooker. It is the perfect kitchen appliance for the weekday working chef. As a result, when I go looking for slow cooker recipes, I self select out recipes the don’t allow the cooking to be at least seven hours.

This one interested me though. I had never made stuffed cabbage. In fact, I have only eaten it once or twice. As a vegetarian main dish, it fit in my attempt to both bring a meatless dish into every week’s menu and to give something that my vegetarian readers could eat.

These were easy to make and would work well as either a main dish (as we had them) or as a side to another dish.

I love barley. It think it is the grain of the gods.

Getting the filling ready to go.

Adding the currants and pine nuts.

Lay out the cabbage and add the filling.

Roll them up.

I filled the bottom of the slow cooker and had to stack a few on a second layer.

Adding the tomatoes.

The tomatoes really add quite a bit to the dish. The flavor is a good pairing with the cabbage. I would easily make this dish again.

Barley-Stuffed Cabbage Rolls with Pine Nuts and Currants

Makes: 4 servings (serving size: 4 cabbage rolls and 2 tablespoons sauce)

Ingredients:

• 1 large head green cabbage, cored
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 1/2 cups finely chopped onion
• 3 cups cooked pearl barley
• 3 ounces crumbled feta cheese (about 3/4 cup)
• 1/2 cup dried currants
• 2 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
• 1/4 teaspoon salt, divided
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided
• 1/2 cup apple juice
• 1 tablespoon cider vinegar
• 1 (14.5-ounce) can crushed tomatoes, undrained

Directions:

Steam cabbage head 8 minutes; cool slightly. Remove 16 leaves from cabbage head; discard remaining cabbage. Cut off raised portion of the center vein of each cabbage leaf (do not cut out vein); set trimmed cabbage leaves aside.

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add onion; cover and cook 6 minutes or until tender. Remove from heat; stir in barley and next 4 ingredients (through parsley). Stir in 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon pepper.

Place cabbage leaves on a flat surface; spoon about 1/3 cup barley mixture into center of each cabbage leaf. Fold in edges of leaves over barley mixture; roll up. Arrange cabbage rolls in bottom of a 5-quart electric slow cooker.

Combine the remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt, remaining 1/8 teaspoon pepper, apple juice, vinegar, and tomatoes; pour evenly over cabbage rolls. Cover and cook on high 2 hours or until thoroughly heated.

Nutritional Info:

Calories: 479 Fat: 13.5g Saturated fat: 5.2g Monounsaturated fat: 4.7g Polyunsaturated fat: 2.4g Protein: 14.4g Carbohydrate: 83.2g Fiber: 16.8g Cholesterol: 25mg Iron: 5.7mg Sodium: 661mg Calcium: 347mg

Source: http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/barley-stuffed-cabbage-rolls-with-pine-nuts-currants-10000000701092/