Quick Stuffed Cabbage

What do you make for dinner when you don’t really want to cook and the only fresh ingredient you have is cabbage? Make what I call ‘Cheater’s Stuffed Cabbage’: All you need is some tinned tomatoes, dry lentils and some seasoning. And some cabbage of course! It’s vegetarian, vegan, and gluten free.

How to

• In the bottom of a steamer pot, dump a can of tomatoes, with an approximate amount of lentils (I probably use about 1 1/2-2 C dry), some seasonings and a bit of water.  This is all inexact.  It is meant to be.  You don’t feel like cooking so you won’t feel like measuring either!  The key is to just eye-up how much extra water to add and then go crazy throwing in some seasonings.  I usually add a lot of cayenne pepper, about 1/2 tsp or so of veggie stock powder or a spoonful of yeast extract, and some black pepper. Then, sit back and let it cook for a while.
• When the lentils are almost soft but still chewy, add some cabbage leaves to a steamer tier above and walk away again.
• When the leaves are soft and the lentils cooked, spoon into the cabbage leaves and create little boats.  I do not bother wrapping them in a fancy way- especially with the small winter cabbage leaves.  I close them by tucking the ‘stem’ part of the leaf into the top.
• Bake in an oiled dish at medium heat for a while.

Change the seasonings, add some grains (rice, quinoa, etcetera), and use this as a staple no-effort meal!