Phase 1 friendly Lazy Cabbage Casserole

I grew up in a Polish/Scottish home.  My mother (Polish) was an excellent cook.  She cooked everyday, run of the mill North American fare, but also some kick ass Polish dishes.  Pirogi, Cabbage rolls, sauerkraut with kielbasa, borscht...You get the idea.  My favorite dishes were of course, the Polish ones.  Once in a while my parents would indulge in some Scottish fare as well.  I absolutely hated blood pudding...and what in the hell is haggis?

One of my favourite Polish dishes was Cabbage Rolls.  Due to the strenuous activity of making Cabbage rolls, we only ate them for holidays.  If my mom made a cabbage/ground meat dish any other time of the year, she would make Lazy Cabbage Roll Casserole.  It basically tasted the same as the real thing, but only took a fraction of the time to prepare.  So how do I make a Phase 1 friendly version when I'm not allowed to use rice or tomatoes (in any form)?  I came up with this dish and my human guinea pig (aka my husband), said it was darned tasty!

Phase 1 friendly Lazy Cabbage Casserole


You will need:

• 1 pound each of extra lean ground beef and pork
• 1 bunch of green onions (about 6 chopped)
• 1/2 head of large cauliflower (shredded)
• 1/2 large head of cabbage (sliced thinly)
• 2 packages of low sodium taco seasoning
• Worcestershire sauce (1 tsp)
• Tabasco sauce (optional, to taste)
• onion and garlic powder (about 1 tbsp each)
• less sodium soya sauce (2 tbsp)
• low sodium beef stock (2 cups)
• half salt to taste

Directions:

• Brown ground meat in a large skillet.  Once the meat has cooked, drain any fat (I use a colander).
• Once meat has drained, add 2 packages of taco seasoning, shredded cauliflower, green onion, Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco sauce, onion and garlic powder and less sodium soya sauce, and 1 cup of low sodium beef stock.  Mix thoroughly and cook until liquid has reduced (about 15 minutes).

This is everything added to the pan before cooking it down!

• In the meantime, slice cabbage thin and put half on the bottom of a deep casserole dish, or your slow cooker. 

• Once the meat has simmered for an additional 15 minutes, pour it on top of the cabbage, then add the rest of the cabbage on top of the meat mixture.  Add the remaining beef stock. Cook on high in your slow cooker, or covered tightly at 325 for 2 1/2 hours.  If using an oven, be sure to stir every 45 minutes.

The casserole assembled.

Four hours later.

 

Ready to eat.

I gotta say, my intention was to pig out on this because it really was tasty.  After one serving I was stuffed:) You could actually follow the same recipe and actually stuff cabbage if you felt so inclined.  Not as good as mom's but nothing ever is.  Tomorrow I'm making Phase 1 friendly Curried Chicken.  Stay tuned:)