We just joined our first CSA. I'm thrilled. Who wouldn't like a box of fresh, organically grown vegetables delivered to their office every week? I'm one lucky, little gal.
Our first week's bounty was plentiful. There were a few things I didn't know what to do with, so I improvised.
Cabbage was the first thing that came out of our box that I wanted to try. I had made stuffed cabbage before, but it didn't really turn out like I had hoped it would. So I did a quick search, luckily there were tons of recipes to go off of.
My goal was to use as much as I could from our CSA share. I managed to squeeze in three of the basket ingredients into this dish and it turned out great. A heart warming, but still light and summery meal. With a subtle heat that elevates the quinoa and brings out the flavor of the turkey.
Yum!
Cajun Quinoa Stuffed Cabbage
Ingredients
- 8 napa cabbage leaves blanched*
- 1/2 pound turkey ground turkey ours was cajun flavored
- 1 small kohlrabi peeled and diced
- 1 medium carrot diced
- 1 small summer squash diced
- 1/2 red bell pepper diced (any color would work)
- 1 small shallot or 1/4 onion, diced
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 cup cooked quinoa
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 3 tablespoons water
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Blanch the cabbage leaves and set aside (see directions on blanching here).
- Over medium heat saute the carrots until slightly tender, 2 minutes. Add the garlic and shallot and saute until translucent, another 1 - 2 minutes.
- Toss in the pepper and kohlrabi, sauteing for 2 minutes.
- Add the turkey and start to break it up with a wooden spoon. Cooking until the meat is browned.
- Add you spices, squash, tomato paste and water and cook for 5 minutes.
- Add the quinoa and toss until it is warm and fully combined.
- Spoon the quinoa mixture onto one side of the cabbage leaves and roll them up like a spring roll or burrito. Repeat with the remaining leaves.
- Place the cabbage pockets in a baking dish and bake for 10 minutes.
- Serve immediately and topped with some hot sauce for an extra kick.
- Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
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Wow, you totally fooled me – I thought these were rice paper wraps! Great idea. I love the mix of raw and cooked for summer! Thanks for sharing!
Thank you Kasandra!!
Wow! Great inspiration for a vegetarian Quinoa Cabbage Roll. I love that you used such a variety of veg and seasonings.
Thank you , Christine! They turned out lovely and would be perfect with a number of different ingredients! xo
Hi Alyssa!
Thank you so much for sharing your beautiful cabbage rolls at the first ever Whole Food Fridays! They look amazing… and I bet they taste amazing too! =)
Hugs,
Megan
Thanks Megan!! xo
I love this!! This is so much healthier than traditional heavy stuffed cabbage! I can’t wait to try this. I am bookmarking this!
You have to let me know how it turns out for you 🙂
I made this recipe last night, using haddock instead of turkey. It was delicious. One question, though: how do you get the leaves off the cabbage without tearing them? It looks so pretty in the picture with the whole leaves, but mine were messy.