Stuffed Cabbage (hold the red sauce)

When you think of stuffed cabbage, what comes to mind?  I’m guessing you think of ground beef and rice rolled up in cabbage and smothered in red sauce, right?  You probably also think of excessive gas.  Let’s try and relieve ourselves of that thought for now 😉

I’m not entirely sure why, but my mom has always made stuffed cabbage without red sauce.  I can remember going to friend’s houses as a child and getting super excited when I heard we were having stuffed cabbage for dinner.  This ALWAYS ended in disappointment because everyone (other than my mom… and my sister) makes stuffed cabbage with red sauce… and I’m not really a fan.  In my family, we like our stuffed cabbage with a side of cabbage.  And some cabbage broth.  And excessive amounts of sour cream and salt and pepper.

Stuffed cabbages has been one of my all-time favorite home cooked meals for as far back as I can remember, yet I’ve never tried to make them myself.  So what the heck, I decided to give it a shot.  My mom uses ground beef in her stuffed cabbages, but I decided to further health-it-up with 99% fat-free ground turkey and brown rice. 

First up, the cabbage:

 

I can honestly say this is the first time I have ever purchased cabbage.  I have a feeling we are going to be GREAT friends 🙂

(Guess who left her camera at work??? Yes, all photos were taken with the lovely iPhone tonight)

I cut the core out of the cabbage:

 

And dropped it hole-side down in a big ole pot of bowling water. 

While the leaves softened in the boiling water, I combined the following in a bowl:

  • 8 ounces 99% fat free ground turkey
  • 1/2 a chopped white onion
  • 1 glove garlic, minced
  • 1 cup brown rice, rinsed and drained
  • 1/4 tsp each salt and pepper

As the leaves began to soften, I pulled off the outer cabbage leaves with a pair of tongs and laid them out while the remaining cabbage kept softening in the pot:

I used an ice cream scooper to evenly distribute the meat and rice mix among 9 cabbage leaves:

Then gave them a roll and lined them up in a baking dish.

Then I gave the remaining cabbage a rough chop and tucked it in between the rolls and threw the rest on top.  I used a ladle to spoon some of the hot cabbage broth onto the rolls until the water level was about half way up the dish.  Then I covered with foil and baked in a 400 degree oven for 1 hour.

When the rolls were done, I topped two of them off with a dollop of sour cream and some black pepper:

 

Andd…….  whelp… it’s wasn’t mom’s.  And it wasn’t my sister’s either.   Have you ever tried to recreate one of your mom’s famous dishes?  If you’re like me, it probably didn’t go so well.  That’s ok, nothing a little hot sauce can’t cure!

All-in-all these were OK– but I think using the ground turkey instead of the ground beef made a HUGE difference (and not for the better).  I think ground beef is the way to go.  That’s what I’ll use next time for sure!

Stuffed Cabbage Ingredients List (serves 4)

  • 8 ounces 99% fat free ground turkey
  • 1/2 a chopped white onion
  • 1 glove garlic, minced
  • 1 cup brown rice, rinsed and drained
  • 1 head cabbage (about 2 lbs)
  • Salt and pepper
  • Fat-free Sour cream (optional in your book, NOT optional in mine)

Stats on 1 serving:  237 calories, 39g carbs, 2g fat, 19g protein, 7g fiber

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White Chicken Chili & Spaghetti Squash

I love spaghetti squash.  I mean, what could be better than an all-natural version of one of my FAVORITE foods in the world?  Lately I’ve been in a spaghetti squash rut.  I’ve been searching high and low for something different than my standard Spaghetti Squash with Spicy meat sauce.

Luckily, I stumbled across this post by Green Dog Wine for some white chicken chili she tossed on top of spaghetti squash.  Sounded like an awesome combo to me!

Since Monday was a holiday, my usual Sunday-Cooktacular was pushed back a day.  Here’s a shot of some of my inventory:

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That doesn’t even include the 2 turkey sausages and 1 chicken breast I grilled up along with the 4 servings of White Chicken chili this recipe makes!  I’m a cooking machine!

Alright, on to the main event:  White Chicken Chilli!

First up, I heated up a skillet that I sprayed down with cooking spray.  Once the skillet was hot, I tossed in a cup of a chopped white onion and 2 cloves of minced garlic.

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A few minutes later the onions were looking nice and caramelized, so I plopped three chicken breasts seasoned with S&P into the skillet right on top of the onions and garlic.

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Once the chicken was cooked through, I added the following to the pan:

  • 1 can Navy beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1 can rotel tomatoes
  • 1 packet McCormick’s White Chicken Chili seasoning
  • 1 cup all-natural free range chicken broth

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I gave everything a good stir, then popped the lid on and reduced the heat to a simmer. 

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Meanwhile, I halved two baby spaghetti squash and tossed them onto a cookie sheet.  Into a 415 degree oven for 25 minutes (since these guys were so tiny, I shortened the cooking time). 

While the squash was cooking, I pulled the chicken breasts out of the chili mix and gave them a rough shred using two forks (just like I do when I make my buffalo chicken dip).  I tossed the shredded chicken back into the chili just in time for the spaghetti squash to be done. 

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I used a fork to scrape out all the squash noodles…  Squadles, perhaps? 😉

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Then, I divided the squash evenly between two containers to take to work for late-night dinners at the office: 

When it was time to eat, I topped one of the containers of squash off with one quarter of the white chicken chili mixture:

 

This is going into my spaghetti squash roatation for sure!  The chili was delicious even without the squash, but I like the extra texture and flavor that the squash adds. 

White Chicken Chili Ingredient List (serves four)

  • 1 cup white onion, chopped
  • 2 cloves minced garlic
  • 1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast
  • S&P
  • 1 can Navy beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1 can rotel tomatoes
  • 1 packet McCormick’s White Chicken Chili seasoning
  • 1 cup all-natural free range chicken broth
  • Spaghetti squash (optional)

Myfitnesspal stats on one serving chili:  293 calories, 39 carbs, 5g fat, 33g protein, 10g fiber

 

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Chicken and Barley Salad

School is back in session – which means it is officially the end of summer in my book.  In honor of this self-declared change in seasons, I decided to make one last summer salad for dinner Monday night. 

The January 2010 issue of Cooking Light featured a recipe for Greek Chicken and Barley salad which was my inspiration and starting point to my dinner. 

First up, I seasoned a few chicken breasts with McCormick’s Montreal Chicken Seasoning and tossed them on to the George Foreman grill.  I only used 4 ounces of chicken in this recipe, but grill once eat thrice I always say. 

When the chicken was done grilling, I roughly shred four ounces of it:

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Meanwhile I brought 1 cup of Nature’s Basket Free Range Chicken Broth (fat-free and low sodium) to a boil, then tossed in 1/2 cup Quaker’s Quick Barley and cooked according to the package instructions. 

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Next I got to choppin the veggies.  For this salad I used:

  • 1 roma tomato
  • 1 large cucumber, seeded
  • 1/2 a yellow bell pepper
  • 1/4 cup of reduced fat Atheno’s feta cheese

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In a small bowl, I mixed together a yummy dressing for the salad:

  • 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice
  • 1 tsp water
  • 1/8 tsp each salt, black pepper, ground thyme
  • 1 clove minced garlic
  • 1/4 tsp dried basil

Once the chicken and barley were cooled off, I added them to my veggies and feta, added the dressing, and tossed to combine. 

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I put the salad in the fridge to let the flavors merry while I cleaned up the inevitable disaster I created in my kitchen.

Dinner time!

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This salad was light and the veggies were so crisp.  I really REALLY like the dressing, and I had forgotten how yummy barley is.  I will miss you summer salads… but I won’t lie.  I’m looking forward to some dinner SOUPS!!

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Chicken & Barley Salad Ingredient List (makes two servings):

  • 4 ounces grilled chicken
  • 1 cup Nature’s Basket Free Range Chicken Broth
  • 1/2 cup Quaker’s Quick Barley
  • 1 roma tomato
  • 1 large cucumber, seeded (or 1 seedless cucumeber)
  • 1/2 a yellow bell pepper
  • 1/4 cup Athenos reduced fat feta
  • 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice
  • 1 tsp water
  • 1/8 tsp each salt, black pepper, ground thyme
  • 1 clove minced garlic
  • 1/4 tsp dried basil

Myfitnesspal stats on one serving:  309 calories, 37g carbs, 5g fat, 26g protein, 6g fiber

 

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