Deconstructed Cabbage Rolls – A Norene Gilletz Recipe

She has done it again! Norene Gilletz has written another cookbook!

Norene collaborated with Edward Wein, PHD and together they have produced a new cookbook called THE BRAIN BOOSTING DIET FEED YOUR MEMORY. You can click on the link & find this book at Amazon,ca

This cookbook is not just recipes… it is full of information about food & nutrition. It is interesting reading and the recipes are delicious. Norene offers options to make changes to the recipes at the bottom of each so read through the recipes before going shopping and making these…so you know which version you want to cook!

I was so honoured when Norene asked me to test some recipes for her for this book! I tested several & it was a wonderful experience for me. She generously mentioned me in the book

I know I will be cooking from the book alot! But the first recipe that I made was the

Deconstructed Cabbage Rolls, page 333

It was easy & so good. Cabbage, meatballs & sauce all cooked in a casserole dish. The recipe calls for Splenda Brown Sugar Blend but I used regular brown sugar since I do not have the other. I know that the nutrition changes when making that switch but we were ok with that

I am going to give you the recipe with permission from Norene

Here it is

Ingredients

Vegetables

2 medium onions

2 cloves of garlic

1 pkg of coleslaw mix…. I used a fresh cabbage … only about 1/3 of it buying the bag of coleslaw will be quicker!

For the Sauce

5 cups tomato sauce

1/4 cup Splenda Brown Sugar Blend… I used brown sugar…

2 tbsp lemon juice or white vinegar… I used lemon juice

3 or 4 bay leaves

For the Meat Balls

2 lb ground meat… you can use beef, which I did, or turkey, chicken or veal

1 large egg or 2 egg whites

1/3 cup uncooked quinoa… a note from Norene… you can use 1 cup cooked quinoa if you have some leftover

1/4 cup tomato sauce

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1 tsp dried basil

1 tsp garlic powder

1/2 cup rolled oats or matzo meal

Method

Preheat oven to 350f

Spray a really large casserole dish with nonstick spray

1. Slice the onions , mince the garlic & if using a whole cabbage, thinly slice enough so that there is 6-8 cups
2. Layer half of the vegetables in the prepared casserole dish & set aside the remaining vegetables
3. Mix the sauce ingredients together & set aside
4. Using a large bowl, mix all of the meatball ingredients together
5. Wet your hands & make meatballs about 1 1/2 inches big..& add them to the casserole dish on top of the cabbage/onions
6. Top with the rest of the cabbage/onion mixture
7. Put the bay leaves in..remember to take them out after cooking …do not eat them
8. Pour the sauce over
9. Tightly cover the casserole with foil
10. Bake for 1 1/2 hours then uncover & bake for 1/2 hour longer so the sauce thickens up
11. Again… discard the bay leaves before serving… they are kind of hidden in the sauce

(There is nutritional information for this recipe in the book but since I used sugar instead of sweetener it would not be accurate so I am not including it )

Enjoy!!