Stuffed Cabbage (Golubtsi or Голубцы)

Daniel served his mission in Ukraine, where he had the opportunity to try many different Russian foods. This is one of his favorites ... and one we cooked for a "Russian Night" with one of Dan's old mission buddies a while back. It's a little time consuming, but super good.

If you're interested in more Russian and Eastern European cooking, check out this awesome cookbook! I bought it for Daniel and we love it. It's got myriad authentic recipes and the history to go along with it.

Stuffed Cabbage (Golubtsi or Голубцы)

Stuffing

• 1 Tbsp unsalted butter
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 6 oz ground beef
• 6 oz ground pork
• 1/2 C long-grain rice
• 2 Tbsp ketchup
• 1/3 C beef broth
• 2 Tbsp chopped fresh dill
• 2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Cabbage and Sauce

• 12-14 large green cabbage leaves
• Salt, to taste
• 1/4 C vegetable oil
• 1/4 C all-purpose flour
• 2 C beef broth (or more if needed)
• 3 Tbsp tomato paste
• 2 Tbsp ketchup
• 1 1/2 tsp brown sugar, firmly packed
• Black pepper, to taste
• 1/4 C Parmesan cheese
• 3/4 C Bechamel Sauce

Melt the butter in a small skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and saute, stirring occasionally, until lightly colored, about 10 minutes.

In a large bowl, combine the meats, onion and remaining stuffing ingredients. Knead until the mixture is thoroughly blended. Set aside. 

Scald the cabbage leaves in a pot of salted boiling water for about 5 minutes. Drain thoroughly and pat dry with paper towels. 

With a sharp knife, cut out the tough center vein from each cabbage leaf. Divide the stuffing into equal portions. Place a portion on the base of each leaf, tuck in the sides and roll the leaves up, tucking in the sides firmly as you go. 

In a large heatproof casserole or Dutch oven that will accommodate all the rolls, heat the oil over medium heat for 1 minute. Spread the flour on a plate and roll the cabbage rolls in it, then place them in the casserole dish, seam side down. Brown the rolls on all sides until deeply colored, about 15 minutes. 

Heat the stock in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the tomato paste, ketchup and sugar, then season with salt and pepper. Add the mixture to the casserole. The liquid should cover the rolls completely (if it doesn't, add more stock). Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer for 25 minutes. 

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 375° F.

Increase the heat under the casserole to high, uncover and let the liquid boil until it is somewhat reduced, about 5 minutes. Place the casserole in the oven and bake, uncovered, until the liquid reduces even further, about 15 minutes.

Spread the bechamel evenly over the rolls, sprinkle with the grated Parmesan and bake, uncovered, until the top is nicely browned, 10 minutes or longer. Serve the cabbage rolls at once.

Serves 4-6.

Bechamel Sauce

• 3 Tbsp unsalted butter
• 3 Tbsp all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 C milk, hot
• Salt and freshly ground white pepper, to taste
• Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg

Melt the butter in a heavy saucepan over low heat. Add the flour and cook, stirring, for 3 minutes

Remove the pan from the heat and add the milk in a steady stream, whisking vigorously until the mixture is thick and smooth. 

Return the pan to the heat and simmer the sauce until thickened, about 10 minutes. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg. If you are not going to use it right away, keep the sauce covered with buttered waxed paper to prevent a skin from forming. 

Serves 4-6.

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 366 g

Amount Per Serving

Calories  427 Calories from Fat  205

% Daily Value*

Total Fat  22.8g 35%

Saturated Fat  9.4g 47%

Trans Fat  0.0g

Cholesterol  75mg 25%

Sodium  626mg 26%

Total Carbohydrates  30.5g 10%

Dietary Fiber  1.5g 6%

Sugars  8.5g

Protein  24.7g

Vitamin A 15% • Vitamin C 12% Calcium 17% • Iron 20%

Nutrition Grade B

* Based on a 2000 calorie diet

Nutritional Analysis

Good points

• High in selenium

Bad points

• High in saturated fat

Steak Fajitas & Guacamole

Okay, so I love love LOVED this marinade. So delicious. The fajitas were wonderful and the guacamole was awesome with them. My husband thought the guac was a little too lime-y for regular chips-and-dip, but it sure tasted marvelous on these fajitas. HERE is where I got the recipe. Enjoy!



Steak Fajitas & Guacamole

Marinade:

• 1 orange, juiced
• 2 limes, juiced
• 4 Tbsp olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
• 3 chipotle chiles, in adobo sauce
• 3 Tbsp roughly chopped fresh cilantro leaves
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp salt

• 2 1/4 pounds skirt or flank steak, trimmed of fat cut into thirds or 8-inch pieces
• Salt and pepper
• 2 red bell peppers, thinly sliced
• 1 large onion, thinly sliced
• Lime juice, olive oil, optional
• 12 flour tortillas, warm
• Guacamole, recipe follows
• Salsa

Combine all the marinade ingredients in a blender and puree until smooth. Transfer to a re-sealable plastic bag and add the steak; seal and shake to coat. Refrigerate for 2 to 4 hours to tenderize and flavor the beef.

Preheat a ridged grill pan on high heat. (We pan-fried ours, which worked out just fine as well ... but we had a very thin cut of steak)

Drain the marinade from the beef. Lightly oil the grill or grill pan. Season liberally with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Grill the steak over medium-high heat and cook for 4 minutes on each side and then transfer to a cutting board and let rest. Depending on the size of your grill pan you may need to cook in batches.

Once the beef is off the grill pan and resting, add the bell peppers and onions tossed with lime juice and olive oil, if using. Grill the mixture for 7 to 8 minutes until the vegetables are just barely limp.

While the peppers and onions are cooking, heat up the tortillas. Turn any free burners on a medium low flame. Place a tortilla on each flame and let it char about 30 seconds to 1 minute, flip the tortilla and repeat on the second side. Once heated and charred remove the tortilla to a clean tea towel and wrap to keep warm. Repeat until you have warmed all of your tortillas.

You can also heat your tortillas in a microwave, lightly dampen a tea towel with some water, wrap the tortillas in the damp towel and heat in the microwave for about 1 minute. Check to see if they are warm, if not repeat the heating at 1 minute intervals until they are warm and pliable.

Thinly slice the steak against the grain on a diagonal.

Spread some guacamole on a tortilla, top with a few slices of steak, peppers and onions, and salsa. Roll up the tortilla to enclose the filling.

May also be served with sour cream and shredded cheese.

Guacamole:

• 5 ripe Hass avocados
• 3 to 4 limes, juiced
• 1/2 small onion, chopped
• 1 small garlic clove, minced
• 1 serrano chile, chopped
• 1 big handful fresh cilantro leaves, roughly chopped
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• Drizzle olive oil

Halve and pit the avocados. With a tablespoon, scoop out the flesh into a mixing bowl. Mash the avocados with a fork, leaving them still a bit chunky. Add all of the rest of the ingredients, and fold everything together.

Lay a piece of plastic wrap directly on the surface of the guacamole so it doesn't brown and refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving (This is an excellent tip. I had no idea you could actually keep guacamole from browning ... but this really works!!). 

Fajita Nutrition Info:

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 574 g

Amount Per Serving

Calories  831 Calories from Fat  335

% Daily Value*

Total Fat  37.2g 57%

Saturated Fat  11.1g 55%

Cholesterol  140mg 47%

Sodium  762mg 32%

Total Carbohydrates  45.4g 15%

Dietary Fiber  7.6g 31%

Sugars  9.1g

Protein  76.7g

Vitamin A 40% • Vitamin C 173% Calcium 14% • Iron 36%

Nutrition Grade B+

* Based on a 2000 calorie diet

Nutritional Analysis

Good points

• High in niacin
• High in selenium
• High in vitamin B6
• Very high in vitamin C
• High in zinc

Guacamole Nutrition Info:

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 328 g

Amount Per Serving

Calories  243 Calories from Fat  199

% Daily Value*

Total Fat  22.1g 34%

Saturated Fat  3.2g 16%

Cholesterol  0mg 0%

Sodium  11mg 0%

Total Carbohydrates  13.3g 4%

Dietary Fiber  10.2g 41%

Sugars  1.2g

Protein  3.1g

Vitamin A 4% • Vitamin C 26% Calcium 2% • Iron 5%

Nutrition Grade B+

* Based on a 2000 calorie diet

Nutritional Analysis

Good points

• No cholesterol
• Very low in sodium
• Low in sugar
• High in dietary fiber
• High in vitamin C

Stuffed Bell Peppers

Last night we had some friends over and this is what I made. Dan and I loved it ... hopefully they did too =)

I was actually a little surprised at how healthy this was ... and oh, was it good! I thought this dish was great for entertaining because it looks so pretty and summery.

The recipe came from the Jorgensen Family Cookbook I mentioned HERE. The cookbook says it belongs to my Aunt Pam, but I'm pretty sure she got it from my Aunt Suzie =)

This was prior to baking, but I was cutting it close on time. The only difference is that the cheese would be melted  =)

Stuffed Bell Peppers

• 6 green bell peppers (I used 4 green, one yellow and one orange since that's what we had)
• 1 lb ground beef or turkey (The nutrition facts below are for beef)
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 2/3 C brown rice (The recipe calls for white rice, I used brown ... just make sure you cook it extra long if you use the brown)
• 15 oz can tomato sauce
• 15 oz can diced tomatoes
• 1/2 C Colby-jack cheese, grated (I think cheddar would also be great ... the recipe calls for Parmesan, but I thought the Colby would taste better)
• Salt and pepper to taste

Cut the tops off peppers and remove seeds. Parboil for 3 minutes in boiling water (For those of you who would need to look up what "parboil" means [yeah, that was me], it means to partially cook in boiling water. Basically, just submerge the peppers in boiling water for 3 minutes and then pull them out and let them cool). Cool. 

In a large skillet, brown meant and onion. Season with salt and pepper. Add rice and tomato sauce. As rice cooks and absorbs liquid, add water as needed and cook 20 minutes or until rice is tender. 

Spoon meat mixture into pepper halves and place in baking dish. Pour diced tomatoes over top and top the whole thing with sprinkled cheese. 

Bake at 350 F for 20-25 minutes. 

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 376 g

Amount Per Serving

Calories 324 Calories from Fat 80

% Daily Value*

Total Fat 8.9g 14%

Saturated Fat 4.0g 20%

Trans Fat 0.0g

Cholesterol 76mg 25%

Sodium 491mg 20%

Total Carbohydrates 31.0g 10%

Dietary Fiber 5.3g 21%

Sugars 10.3g

Protein 29.4g

Vitamin A 93% • Vitamin C 278% Calcium 11% • Iron 24%

Nutrition Grade A

* Based on a 2000 calorie diet

Nutritional Analysis

Good points

• High in manganese
• High in selenium
• Very high in vitamin A
• High in vitamin B6
• High in vitamin B12
• Very high in vitamin C
• High in zinc

Homemade Spaghetti Sauce & Meatballs

This was my first attempt at making spaghetti sauce from scratch ... and, if I do say so myself, it was amazing. I pulled the meatball and sauce recipe from HERE, but I tweaked it a little bit. Mostly, I just substituted fresh herbs and tomatoes for dried/canned. I'll give you my recipe below.



Homemade Spaghetti and Meatballs

Meatballs

• 1 pound lean ground beef
• 1 cup Italian bread crumbs
• 3 Tbsp fresh parsley
• 1 Tbsp Parmesan cheese, grated
• 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
• 1/8 tsp garlic powder
• 1 egg, beaten

Sauce

• 3/4 C chopped onion
• 5 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 C olive oil
• 5 tomatoes, diced
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp granulated sugar
• 1 bay leaf
• 6 oz tomato paste (1 can)
• 1 1/2 Tbsp fresh basil, shredded
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper

In a large bowl, combine ground beef, bread crumbs, parsley, Parmesan, 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, garlic powder and beaten egg. Mix well and form into approximately 20 balls. Store, covered, in refrigerator until needed.


In a large saucepan over medium heat, saute onion and garlic in olive oil until onion is translucent. Stir in tomatoes, salt, sugar and bay leaf. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer 90 minutes. Stir in tomato paste, basil, 1/2 teaspoon pepper and meatballs and simmer 30 minutes more. Serve over 1 lb cooked whole wheat spaghetti noodles.


We were having company the night I made this ... and I didn't quite have time to let it simmer the full 90 minutes. I let it simmer about 30, then I added the meatballs and let it simmer another 30. It still turned out great! 

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 341 g

Amount Per Serving

Calories 642 Calories from Fat 162

% Daily Value*

Total Fat 18.0g 28%

Saturated Fat 3.8g 19%

Trans Fat 0.0g

Cholesterol 99mg 33%

Sodium 1210mg 50%

Total Carbohydrates 81.8g 27%

Dietary Fiber 10.2g 41%

Sugars 11.6g

Protein 38.7g

Vitamin A 30% • Vitamin C 40% Calcium 11% • Iron 42%

Nutrition Grade B

* Based on a 2000 calorie diet