stuffed cabbage soup

Tapping into our inner lazy, this soup manifests. Stuffed Cabbage is a Hungarian specialty in which cabbage is rolled around a filling of ground meat and rice, and  is then cooked with sauerkraut and a few tomatoes. 

Since I try to find the fastest way around a boulder of any kind, unless it is a special occasion, at which time I will painstakingly roll said cabbage around stated filling, I decided to make this dish into a soup, at which point I came up with this creative name -

Stuffed Cabbage Soup.

It utilizes all of the main ingredients that are in the stuffed cabbage, including the ground protein, rice, sauerkraut, sour cream and tomatoes. It came out to being a delicious alternative to its more labor-intensive cousin.

Cost Breakdown

TVP (or seitan): $1

sauerkraut, cabbage: $2.50

tomatoes, broth, rice: $2.50

onion, garlic, sour cream: $1

Total to make 5 servings:

$7.00

Stuffed Cabbage Soup Recipe

creamy italian polenta pie

This Creamy Italian Polenta Pie is easy to make and really delicious. I made mine very creamy - to the point that it had a little difficulty setting up when cold; if you make this with the intention of having firm polenta, you can use less liquid, about 2/3 c less milk. The added liquid from the diced tomatoes gives the polenta the decidedly un-traditional hue of pink and adds the extra liquid which makes it so creamy. 

In addition to the polenta (cornmeal) and tomatoes, this 'pie' has kidney beans, baby spinach, baby kale, cauliflower, onions and a healthy dose of garlic layered on top.

You can make this, let it sit up and add add cheese and bake it until warmed through and the cheese melts. This is a wholly unnecessary, but delicious, alternative. Otherwise, just serve this as soon as it is assembled. 

Cost Breakdown

polenta, oil, seasonings: $1

milk, tomatoes, beans: $5

cauliflower, onions, baby greens, garlic: $3

Total to make 6 servings:

$9.00