Around the World in 80 Plates: Poland

Again I hit up my copy of The 30 Minute Vegan Taste of Europe for inspiration and found Stuffed Cabbage in the European Fusion section of the book. While different versions of these stuffed cabbage rolls are served all over the world, they are considered serious comfort food in Poland. From my internet searching I found out in Poland they would be called Gołąbki which means little pigeons referring to their size. I seriously loved cabbage rolls but I haven't made them much since being vegan so I was super excited to try these out. I enlisted my mom to help me with them to speed up the process and was happy I did when we decided our cabbage needed a little help letting go of its leaves. They were not coming off without cracking so we boiled a big pot of water and put the giant head of cabbage in there. That was the easy part...the harder part was how to get the giant, now boiling hot, head of cabbage out of the pot! It was tricky and involved us both, some kitchen utensils and two oven mitts but we got it out of there. The filling was quick and easy to make but we did make a quick substitution for the tempeh it called for on account that my mom won't touch the stuff. We decided to add in chopped walnuts in their place and it worked perfectly. They added a nice textural contrast and flavour.  The sauce was tasty but there really wasn't enough of it so we had to add more, about another two times the recipe. I served them up with some homemade sour cream and steamed veggies to the whole family, in-laws included and everyone loved them. I even convinced Mac to give them a try figuring he would quickly change his mind but he ate up almost a whole one. They really tasted just like what I loved before, hearty, filling, savoury with a bit of sweetness from the tomato sauce. I loved the dill in them and did served them with a bit of homemade sour cream as well that added a nice richness to them. They probably could have been baked a bit longer than the recipe stated but that might differ based on your cabbage. It's definitely a recipe I will be revisiting sometime soon!