Paleo Granny

The end of a long-weekend and I have to go back to work tomorrow :( - a week's vacation goes so quickly, especially as there were so many things I wanted to do.  I didn't get them all done as I decided to re-do the kitchen and was also trying to figure out how to make my blog recipes look better and printable - I didn't succeed.  I have discovered that Google Blogger is very limited when it comes to food blogging, and I think I need to switch to another blog package...in my free time.

Another beautiful summer day in the Lower Mainland.  We started out the morning by cycling to Steveston to have breakfast at Diner One on No. 1 Road in Steveston.  I Googled "breakfast Steveston" and - wow - not many choices.  We hadn't been to Diner One before but the food turned out to be pretty good and the prices were reasonable for breakfast.

Paleo Grandad's breakast

My breakfast

Breakfast over, we cycled the long way home on the dyke.  I was surprised at how many other 60+ were also cycling on the dyke - a lot of grey hair under those helmets.  I can't imagine my 60+ grandparents cycling.  In fact, two of my four grandparents died before they even reached 60.

Paleo Grandad worked on the kitchen re-do some more (I hope to have the kitchen after shot on Facebook tomorrow night - it looks great), and I decided to do a big cooking prep for the week.  If I want to go for a bike ride when I come home from work during the week I have to have dinner pretty much ready to go. Besides tonight's dinner, I cooked up:

1. A large batch of Sweet Potato Meatballs (can be used or dinner with Well Fed's Sunshine Sauce, a snack or a grab and go breakfast).

   

   
   
2. Roasted red cabbage chips (which also taste delicious with Sunshine Sauce (everything taste's better with Sunshine Sauce!).
   
3. Sauteed a large pan of cabbage and bacon.
4. Prepped some Brussels sprouts ready to cook.
5. Washed a bunch of kale (wash, wrap in paper towels, put in a plastic bag and it will last for a week), ready for a kale salad or two during the week.
6. Roasted some yellow beets with rosemary and olive oil.
   
7. Chopped up the rest of a large corned beef (can be used for breakfast with a side of sauerkraut).

Then I made dinner.  Even though it is hot today and having the oven on most of the afternoon didn't help, I had found a recipe on Primally Inspired for Cabbage Rolls:  Reuben-style, with a side of turnip and parsnip mash that sounded so good I had to try it.  (She made it for St. Patrick's Day but why wait?)

Ingredients

1 head of cabbage  (I used 8 leaves)

¾ lb cooked corned beef, sliced (about 2-1/2 cups)

1 cup sauerkraut

2 slices Swiss cheese (optional), cut into thirds (I didn't use the cheese and it was still good)

Thousand Island Dressing:

½ cup mayonnaise - Paleo 30 second mayo (from The Healthy Foodie)

2 T ketchup (I used 2 Tbsp. tomato paste + 1 tsp. coconut sugar, as there was no ketchup in the house)

1 T fresh lemon juice

1 T onion, finely chopped 

½ dill pickle, chopped (3 T)

salt and pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Remove the core from your cabbage.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. You want to fill the pot with enough water so that at least half of the cabbage is submerged. Place the whole cabbage head in the water. After about a minute, the outer leaf will begin to peel back from the cabbage head. Using tongs, peel that layer away from the head and keep it in the boiling water for 3 minutes. After the leaf has boiled for 3 minutes, take it out of the pot and place it in a colander to dry. The outer leaves on the cabbage will continue peeling away from the cabbage. Keep using your tongs to peel the outer leaves off the head and leave them submerged in the boiling water for 3 minutes. The goal is to boil each leaf for 3 minutes. You need 8 leaves total for the recipe.  This is the best way I know how to boil my cabbage leaves. If you have a better way, feel free to use your way.

Once your 8 leaves are all boiled, soft, and pliable, cut each tough stem away.

You may either chop up the remaining cabbage to put in the bottom of your 13×9 pan or put it away for another day. If you chop it up and use it for this dish, add some salt and pepper to taste. 

Make the thousand island dressing by combining all the ingredients into a small bowl.

Now we’ll stuff our rolls. Put about 1/3 cup of the corned beef at the top of the roll . Add about 1 Tbsp. of dressing. Next top with about 2 Tbsp. of sauerkraut. Then add the cheese slice if you are using cheese. Starting at the top, roll up the leave once. Fold the edges in and continue rolling. Place the stuffed roll into the 13×9 pan (on top of the sliced cabbage if you put the leftover cabbage in the pan). Stuff and roll the remaining leaves.

Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes. Let cool for a few minutes. Use the leftover dressing as a dipping sauce for the cabbage rolls and/or place a dollop on top of each roll and the leftover cabbage in the bottom of the pan.