I made these so many times last winter, I became sick of them though they are delicious. With my Dad laid up with a broken leg, I thought they’d be great for his recuperation. They’re light and tasty, made with turkey meat and brown rice. Originally I got this recipe from one of my favorite cook books, MAKE IT FAST, COOK IT SLOW, by Stephanie O’Dea.  Here is her version of the recipe.  I replace the Lipton with a substitute for the dry onion soup mix because Lipton is not gluten-free and has too many chemicals for my taste. At first I was intimidated by this recipe but now I can throw it together quickly during the day and enjoy for dinner without any hassle.

INGREDIENTS:

1 cabbage

1 pound lean ground turkey

1/2 cup raw brown

1  large egg

soup mix substitute

(2 tablespoon corn starch, 2 tablespoon potato starch,

1 teaspoon vegetable stock (I used Superior Touch  Better Than Boullion

vegetable base- though it’s not marked gluten-free, I didn’t find any hidden gluten in the ingredients), 1 teaspoon dried onion, 1 teaspoon onion powder (I chopped up some sad little chives from my neglected garden and used that instead)

ground pepper and salt

1/3 cup shredded Parmesan cheese (I use the shaker Parm Cheese because it handy and use about 1/2 a cup)

1  (8 0z) can tomato sauce

3 cups vegetable juice like V8

Directions:

The hardest part of  this recipe is peeling off the cabbage leaves.  I made a mess of it the first time and the recipe still worked. I cut the bottom off the cabbage and do my best to separate them.  It’s hit and miss depending on the cabbage.

I put a little water in the above container, put a plate on top, then heated in the microwave for a minute or so. You want them soft enough to work with.  Except for the vegetable juice,  combine all the other ingredients in a large bowl. It will make a glorpy mess that you’ll spoon into the softened cabbage leaves.  How many leaves I use depends on the size of the leaf and how small I make the rolls.  I used to pile in a lot of filling but now I back off on that and make more small rolls.

Place each roll seam side down in a 6 quart slow cooker. You’ll need to pile them up. Cover with the vegetable juice. They don’t need to be covered but I add more juice if I feel like it needs it.  Some rolls can be sticking above the juice but at least touch thier bottoms. I marinate juice over the top of the rolls every few hours but it’s not necessary.

  Cook on low for six to eight hours.  When I don’t have a lot of time, I’ve cooked them on high for about five hrs. This batch fell a part a bit but it still tastes great. Promise. If you have to work all day, you can throw together and cook a bit in the evening, put in the fridge before you got to bed and put on again when you get home from work. Just a thought. I’ve done this when I’ve made more than one meal at a time and want to be free to write the whole next day.