Ellen, this is a canning recipe, but I think it could be easily halved. It would still make a lot, as a full recipe makes 5 pints/about 10 cups, and that's without rice. Rice can't be canned, it turns into a big pile of mush and is too dense for the heat of the pressure canner to fully penetrate evenly, so it has to be added after canning. I like having a jar of it to just open and pour over rice, it's quick and easy.

This was some "leftover" that didn't fit in the canner, so I just cooked it longer until the cabbage was done, then added some leftover cooked brown rice.

Note that if you are canning it, it needs a pressure canner. In addition, it has to be "soupy", as the NCHFP guidelines call for half solids and half liquids. Less than half liquid is not only unsafe, but it makes it so thick that there's no "sauce" for the rice to soak up. I used fresh tomatoes in this batch, because I was trying to use up garden tomatoes, but normally use canned. If it's too thick, add more tomatoes and seasoning to taste. Ashley likes more brown sugar, Elery likes a bit of hot pepper. I didn't add mushrooms because I didn't have any when I wanted to can the stuff.

Un-Stuffed Cabbage Rolls
3/4 lb. lean ground beef or turkey
1 large onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 small cabbage, chopped
1/2 cup shredded carrots
3/4 lb. white button mushrooms, finely chopped
2 cans (14.5 ounces each) diced tomatoes
1 can (8 ounces) tomato sauce
1/2 cup water
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon sea salt

yields 5 pints

Preparation: Prepare pint jars, lids and rings by sterilizing. Chop and dice vegetables.

Cooking: In a large skillet over medium heat add the ground beef and cook, stirring, until ground beef is no longer pink. Drain the ground meat and as an option rinse the meat with hot water to remove more fat using a colander. Clean the same pan and add onion till just tender. Add the garlic and continue cooking for 1 minute. Add the chopped cabbage, tomatoes, and the rest of the ingredients. Bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes, or until cabbage is wilted.

Filling the jars: On a dishtowel place your hot jars and using your funnel in each jar fill the jars to 1” headspace. Remove air bubbles and refill to the proper headspace if necessary. Taking a clean papertowel wet it with vinegar and wipe the rims of the jars removing any food particles that would interfere with a good seal. Using your magic wand extract the lids from the hot water and place them on the now cleaned rims. Add your rings to the tops of each of the jars and turn to seal just "finger tight".

Processing: Make sure your rack is on the bottom of the canner and place the jars in the pressure canner. Lock the lid and turn up the heat bring the canner to a boil. Vent steam for 10 minutes, then close the vent by adding the weighted gauge or pressure regulator (for dial gauge canner). Process for 75 minutes at 10 lbs of pressure (11 lbs for dial gauge canner). (Adjust pressure for altitude) When complete turn off the heat and let pressure return to zero naturally. Wait two minutes longer and open vent. Remove canner lid. Wait 10 minutes then remove jars and place on dishtowel in a place that they will sit overnight to cool. Do not touch or move them till the next morning. Your food may still be boiling inside the jars. That is normal!

Sealing: Sometime in the next hour your jars will be making a "pinging" or "popping" noise. That is the glass cooling and the reaction of the lids being sucked into the jar for proper sealing. Some recipes may take overnight to seal. Check your lids and reprocess any jars that did not seal. Remove rings for storage.

It's easier than cabbage rolls, with the same flavor. And, as I mentioned, it's fast. Just open a jar and pour it over rice, heat and eat it. Homemade from scratch convenience food!

Annie