Whole Grain and Italian Sausage–Stuffed Cabbage

Ok, this recipe is straight out of the cooking light magazine. It's pretty yummy. I made it, however, and did some things a little different. I omitted the butter and oil completely and just browned the sausage with the veggies, so the oils in the turkey helped soften them up. I also just used some leftover plain mushrooms that I had in my fridge (instead of porcini). I also bought a head of cabbage that was WAY too small, so there was no way I could fit 1/2 cup of filling in each roll. So, I still half of my filling sitting in the fridge waiting for more cabbage. So, my alterations changed it so that now it yields more like 20 cabbage rolls at about 2 points a piece. Not bad. I'm not sure it's officially one of my favorite recipes, but it was fun to make. I've never cooked with bulgur before, so just finding it in the grocery store was a challenge (psst....natural foods section).

Whole Grain and Italian Sausage–Stuffed Cabbage (from Cooking Light magazine)

• 2 cups water
• 1/2 cup dried porcini mushrooms, crushed (about 1/2 ounce)
• 1 1/4 cups uncooked bulgur
• 2 teaspoons butter
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1 cup finely chopped onion
• 2/3 cup finely chopped celery
• 2/3 cup finely chopped carrot
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 pound hot turkey Italian sausage
• 12 large Savoy cabbage leaves
• 2 cups canned crushed tomatoes
• 1 1/2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 2 teaspoons brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

1. Bring 2 cups water to a boil in a saucepan. Stir in mushrooms; cover, remove from heat, and let stand 10 minutes.
2. Uncover pan; bring mushroom mixture to a boil. Stir in bulgur; cover, remove from heat, and let stand 30 minutes or until liquid is absorbed. Spoon bulgur mixture into a large bowl.
3. Heat butter and oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion, celery, carrot, and garlic to pan; sauté 7 minutes or until tender and lightly browned. Add vegetables to bulgur mixture; cool slightly. Stir in salt and pepper. Remove casings from sausage. Crumble sausage into bulgur mixture; stir well to combine.
4. Add water to a large Dutch oven to a depth of 2 inches; set a large vegetable steamer in pan. Bring water to a boil over medium-high heat. Add cabbage leaves to steamer. Steam cabbage, covered, 6 minutes or until tender and pliable. Remove cabbage from steamer (do not drain water). Rinse cabbage with cold water; drain and pat dry.
5. Working with one cabbage leaf at a time, place 1/2 cup bulgur mixture in center of leaf. Fold in edges of leaf; roll up. Repeat procedure with the remaining cabbage leaves and bulgur mixture to form 12 cabbage rolls. Stack rolls evenly in steamer.
6. Return Dutch oven to medium-high heat; bring water to a boil. Steam rolls, covered, 30 minutes, adding more water if necessary.
7. Combine tomatoes, red wine vinegar, and sugar in saucepan; cook over medium heat 5 minutes or until thoroughly heated, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat; stir in parsley. Serve sauce with rolls.

Yields: 6 servings (serving size: 2 cabbage rolls and about 1/3 cup sauce)

Nutritional Information:
CALORIES 322(30% from fat); FAT 10.9g (sat 3.3g,mono 4.1g,poly 2.3g); PROTEIN 19.6g; CHOLESTEROL 48mg; CALCIUM 86mg; SODIUM 839mg; FIBER 10.3g; IRON 4.1mg; CARBOHYDRATE 40.2g