Smoky & Sweet Cabbage Roll Ups

These crunchy, smoky & sweet cabbage rolls ups are deliciously irresistible for a fun hand-held meal!

This smoky & sweet cabbage roll up is a mixture between a cabbage roll (which are usually filled and cooked in tomato sauce) and a collard roll (which is raw, and stuffed with delicious proteins, grains, veggies and seasonings. I decided to marry the two ideas, and create a raw roll up using Savoy cabbage, which has quickly become one of my favorites this fall. The sweetness comes from a roasted red pepper chipotle hummus, as well as some beautifully pickled red onions. To balance the sweet, we have a smoky tempeh filling that’s meaty and hearty.

Meal Prep

This recipe looks a bit more involved than my usual recipes, however I have one secret: I batch cook a lot of different things and I love to just assemble when it comes to meal time. I usually have shredded carrots on hand, the tempeh is usually made in big batches, hummus was already made, and the pickled onions are most always in my fridge. The day of this photo shoot, I only had to blanch the leaves and make the slaw. I was done in about 10 minutes since I had the essentials on hand.

These items are also great for other recipes: the onions I put over everything, I love mixing hummus into lentil pasta, I throw the tempeh over salads. So I batch cook once and I assemble many times throughout the week. It’s really a life saver. I highly recommend prepping food in advance so these types of roll ups are easy to put together for a fast meal!

Savoy Cabbage

The farmers market has such incredible cabbages, cauliflower, and other brassicas. This fall, I’ve been mesmerized by the colors, and even more so, the genuine size of these cabbages! The savoy is wonderful braised with onions and garlic, sometimes using veggie sausage and smoky flavorings. It’s sweet and tender when cooked well, and crunchy when blanched quickly.

Which leaves are best

I love crunchy, chewy things, and so I used the outer leaves for this recipe. But if you’d like something softer, definitely opt for the inner leaves which are more tender. Smaller leaves will be easier to chew, but the roll ups will be small. Larger leaves will make larger roll ups, almost good enough for a sandwich, but will be crunchier.

These Smoky & Sweet Cabbage Roll Ups Are:

• Crunchy
• Hearty
• Filling
• Savory & Sweet
• And super fun to make!
• Plus they’re SO good and make a great template for any fillings you have on hand.

Smoky & Sweet Cabbage Roll Ups Recipe

Tempeh:

• 1 eight-ounce package of organic tempeh, any flavor
• 4 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 2 Tablespoons tamari, soy sauce or coconut aminos
• scant 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 tablespoon brown mustard
• 1/2 tsp salt

Slaw:

• handful each of shredded cabbage and shredded carrots
• 1 tsp vegan mayo (I like Vegenaise)
• splash of apple cider vinegar
• generous pinch salt
• freshly ground black pepper

Cabbage:

• Two Savoy Cabbage leaves
• Ice water (set aside in a large bowl)

Condiments:

• Quick pickled red onions and cucumbers
• Cilantro
• Roasted Red Pepper Hummus with Chipotle

Recipe Instructions

First make the tempeh: Cut the tempeh into slivers, and steam for 10 minutes. In the meantime, in a baking casserole dish, combine the rest of the tempeh ingredients. When the tempeh has finished steaming, toss everything together and bake at 350 degrees for about 20-25 minutes until the tempeh is golden brown. (For more in-depth tutorial, check out my blog post here).

Next, make the slaw: combine all the slaw ingredients together and mix well.

Prepare the cabbage leaves: Carefully cut along the stem and remove it. Every leaf should give you two collard roll ups. I used 2 large leaves which left me with 4 collard roll ups (which I then cut in half).

Dip the half-leaves in boiling water for about 1-2 minutes until they are bright green. Quickly submerge them under ice water so that they stop cooking. When cool to the touch, place them on a cutting board and gently pat them dry on both sides.

Lastly, assemble the roll ups: Lay the cabbage leaves dark side down. To each of these, add a layer (I do this to look like a square in the leaf, top to bottom, but giving ample room on the sides to roll) thin out a good dollop of the roasted red pepper hummus, then cole slaw, tempeh, and pickled red onions and cucumber. Add the cilantro on top. Gently roll up the leaf from one side to the other to form a roll up. Plate these roll ups with the seam down.

If you try this recipe, let us know! Feel free to leave a comment below, rate it, and tag your photo on Instagram so we see it ~ #LittleBitesOfJoy. We love sharing fan favorites! Thanks, friends!

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