Cabbage Rolls and Cucumber Salad These delicious...

Photoset - Permalink

Cabbage Rolls and Cucumber Salad

These delicious cabbage rolls were part of our Saturday supper last night. We had it with cucumber salad and baked sweet potatoes. Yum! It was so delicious. I love Hungarian food. My Dad first showed me how to make these cabbage rolls, and my Nana showed me how to make the cucumber salad. She used sour cream in hers instead of plain yogurt. I add the olive oil to give it more flavor. Either way it’s delicious! The cucumber salad is also good on any kind of pita sandwich. Here’s how I made this yummy Saturday dinner.

For the cabbage rolls: Boil a large pot of salted water to soften the cabbage for rolling.

In a skillet, olive oil and 1 lb organic ground beef, salt and pepper. Once the meat is cooked, drain any fat off and add 1 small sweet onion, 1 carrot, 1 celery stalk, all chopped, and 4 cloves garlic , minced. Season with salt & pepper, 1 tsp hungarian paprika, 1 tblsp Worcestershire sauce, 1 tsp dried dill and a big handful of fresh chopped parsley. Cook together for a few minutes then set aside to cool. Once it’s cooled off, mix with 1 cup cooked rice and 1 scrambled egg.

Core a head of cabbage, I used napa cabbage but any kind would work for this. Add the whole thing to the pot and pull out individual leaves as they start to soften. Remove to a clean work surface, and start rolling the filling into the leaves, like cabbage burritos. Arrange in a baking dish. Mix 1 can of tomato sauce with 1 tblsp brown sugar and the juice of 1 lemon and a tiny splash of cider vinegar. Pour the sauce over the top and bake 45 minutes to 1 hour until piping hot and bubbly.

Serve with cucumber salad: Halve and slice English or Persian cucumbers. Mix a dressing of 1 smashed garlic clove, 1 tblsp olive oil, 1 tsp honey or sugar, 1 cup plain yogurt, salt and pepper, fresh or dried dill and fresh chopped parsley, and a small splash of white vinegar. Yum!