Unstuffed Cabbage

Happy Monday!  I hope you had a great weekend.  We had a great time hanging out with some friends, enjoying the unseasonably warm weather and celebrating the Husband's birthday.  Thankfully I was pretty good with my eating habits this weekend.  I didn't even have cake for the Husband's birthday.  This is progress!

Last week I made this recipe on one of the coldest days.  It was perfect, because I was looking for comfort food, but really wanted to be good.  I found this recipe from Clean Eating Magazine, but tweaked it a little, and I think it came out great.  The Husband thought it had too much red pepper in it, but I liked the kick!

Unstuffed Cabbage
Inspired by Clean Eating Magazine's recipe for Stuffed Cabbage Rolls
Ingredients:
1/2 - 1 C cooked bulgur
1 medium head green cabbage
1 lb ground turkey (or ground beef or chicken)
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
3 ripe tomatoes, diced
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

Sauce ingredients:
1 15 oz can fire roasted tomatoes
3 T apple cider vinegar
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp cinnamon
dash of cayenne pepper
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:
Cook the bulgur according to the package.  In a large skillet over medium-hi heat, cook turkey until brown.  Add onions and cook for 3 more minutes or until onions are softened.  Add tomatoes, oregano, cinnamon and cayenne and saute for another couple of minutes.  Remove mixture from skillet and combine with the bulgur.  Use as much or as little bulgur as you like.  Season the mixture with salt and pepper if desired.

Meanwhile, core and slice the cabbage.  Place the cabbage on a microwave safe plate and microwave the cabbage in 30 sec. increments until slightly softened.  (It took me about 2 minutes).  Add the cooked cabbage to the turkey mixture and combine.

To make the sauce:  empty the canned tomatoes into a sauce pan and combine with remaining ingredients.  Add more tomatoes or vinegar as desired. Set over medium heat and allow it to heat through. 

To serve - divide the cabbage mixture among 4-6 plates and ladle sauce over each serving.  Alternatively, add sauce directly to cabbage mixture and then divide the mixture among 4-6 plate.  Enjoy!


Updated:  I am linking up here: