'Twas the night before … - Christmas meals - Recipe

Vegetarian Times, Dec, 2000 by Ken Haedrich

1 Tbs. plus 1 tsp. olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped (1 cup)
1 stalk celery, chopped (1/2 cup)
1 small red or green bell pepper, diced
  (about 1/2 cup)
3 cups thinly sliced mushrooms
  (8 oz.)
1 medium clove garlic, minced
3 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
  or water
1 1/2 cups uncooked basmati rice
2 Tbs. chopped fresh parsley
1 large green cabbage, cored
2 lbs. fresh sauerkraut
3 1/2 cups prepared tomato sauce

1. In large saucepan, heat oil over medium-low heat. Add onion, celery and bell pepper; season with salt. Cover and cook 5 minutes. Stir in mushrooms and garlic. Cover and cook 5 minutes.

2. Stir in broth and rice; season with freshly ground pepper. Increase heat and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low and cook, 15 minutes. Remove from heat and fluff rice with fork. Stir in parsley; set aside.

3. In large pot, bring 1 inch water to a boil. Place cabbage in water, cored side down. Cover and cook 5 minutes. Remove cabbage from pot. As soon as possible --using fork if necessary to grab leaves--peel off first 4 leaves. Return cabbage to pot, cover and cook 5 minutes; peel off 4 more leaves. You will need 8 leaves. Cover leaves with plastic wrap. (Reserve remaining cabbage for soup.) When leaves are cool enough to handle, carve off as much tough ridge as you can from center of leaves, cutting flush with leaf.

4. Preheat oven to 375 [degrees] F. Drain sauerkraut in colander. Rinse briefly then squeeze out most of liquid. Place sauerkraut in even layer in medium to large shallow casserole (13 x 9-inch). Top with 2 cups tomato sauce.

5. Place about 3/4 cup of rice in center of each leaf. Fold up sides and place stuffed leaves, seam side down, in casserole. Spoon remaining 1 1/2 cups tomato sauce over cabbage. Cover with foil and bake until bubbly and heated through, about 45 minutes. Check after 30 minutes and if it seems too liquidy, remove foil during last 10 to 15 minutes of baking. Serve hot.

PER SERVING: 252 CAL; 7G PROT.; 3G TOTAL FAT (0 SAT. FAT); 45G CARB.; 0 CHOL.; 1,079MG SOD.; 6G FIBER

Holiday Fruit Bread

MAKES 2 LOAVES (ABOUT 16 SLICES EACH)

These lovely loaves are shaped like stollen, the traditional German holiday bread. But it's a quick bread, not a yeasted one as stollen is, so you can make it in just a fraction of the time. If you'd rather not use the port to soak the fruit, simply use apple, orange or apricot juice.

1 cup golden raisins
3/4 cup chopped dates
1/2 cup chopped prunes
1 to 1 1/2 cups ruby port
Fine yellow cornmeal for dusting
4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar, plus extra for
  sprinkling

1 1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
3 Tbs. cold unsalted butter, cut into
  1/4-inch pieces
1 large egg
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 Tbs. grated lemon peel
Milk for glaze

1. In shallow bowl, combine raisins, dates, prunes and enough port to just cover. Let stand 30 to 60 minutes. Lightly oil large baking sheet and dust with cornmeal; set aside.