GOOD AND CHEAP DINNER RECIPES - DECONSTRUCTED CABBAGE ROLLS

DECONSTRUCTED CABBAGE ROLLS
FOR SIX

Casseroles are a great way to stretch your cooking-without- a-recipe muscles. As one reader, Carolie, reminded me, they require little prep time, yield many meals,  and the leftovers are easy to store. Casseroles also let you  easily tailor an existing recipe to your own  tastes.

So here is my  adaptation of one of Carolie favorite casseroles, itself a play  on cabbage  rolls, a traditional Eastern European dish that is delicious but labor- intensive. This version is a good way to use up leftover rice or grains and lentils, including leftover rainbow rice.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 fresh sausage, casing removed
• 1 onion,  chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 small or ½ large cabbage, cored  and chopped
• 3 cups cooked  rice 
• 4 cups cooked  lentils
• 3½  cups canned tomatoes, puréed, or tomato sauce
• salt and pepper

ADDITIONS

• breadcrumbs on top olives
• peas or corn cheese
• any spice combination 

VARIATIONS

• ground  beef, turkey, or pork instead of lentils and sausage
• swiss chard or collards instead of cabbage

RECIPE

1. Heat the oven to 350  °F.
2. Melt the butter in a large pan  over medium heat. Slice the casing off the sausage and crumble the raw meat into the pan.  I used fresh chorizo because it is easy to find in my  neighborhood and I love the spicy,  smoky flavor, but you  should use whatever your favorite is. A sweet Italian sausage would taste great too. Sauté the meat until it is no longer pink,  then move  it to a large bowl.
3. Saute the onion  and garlic in the same  pan,  with the sausage drippings. Once the onion  turns translucent, add the cabbage and sauté for 5 to 7 minutes, until tender enough to jab easily with a fork. Season generously with salt and pepper.
4. While the cabbage  cooks,  mix the rice and lentils into the sausage bowl.  Add salt, pepper, and any  other spices you would  like. I would suggest repeating whatever spices are in the sausage: in the case of chorizo, that was  paprika, cumin, and dried chilies, but if you  were using Italian sausage, you  might add some fennel seeds. Make sure you  taste the mixture as you  season  it. If both parts of the casserole are tasty, you will  end up with a delicious meal.  If they are not seasoned  well, it will be bland.
5. Lightly oil a large casserole dish. Spread the lentil-rice-sausage mixture into an even layer. Next, spread the cabbage  mixture on top. Then,  as evenly  as possible,  pour the puréed tomatoes over top. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
6. Bake until hot and bubbly, approximately 30 minutes.

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