Not My Mother’s Holishkes

This is a quick sketch of the recipe we made for the seder. I think the only way this recipe resembles my Mother’s, which was filled with ground beef and rice and egg, is that you use some of this and some of that. This recipe is very forgiving. What and how much to put in is really up to the cook! I tested several batches, and never quite got the quality control down pat.... I kept on using some of this and some of that. You cook it enough, and it still comes out good....

List of Ingredients:

• Green cabbage
• A variety of chopped vegetables, such as onions, carrots, and zucchini
• Leafy spinach
• Currants
• Pine nuts
• Garlic
• Herbs such as rosemary, thyme leaves, and marjoram
• Coarse salt and black pepper
• Tomato sauce
• Lemon juice
• Brown sugar
• Olive oil
• Quinoa

Cooking Steps:

1. Freeze and defrost green cabbage leaves so that they will be wilted and easy to bend and fold. For smaller rolls, cut each leaf in half, removing the tough center vein.

2. Cook quinoa (proportion: one cup quinoa to two cups water) in a covered saucepan).

3. In a large skillet, sauté chopped onions and garlic in olive oil for 5 to 8 minutes. Add chopped carrots and sauté for another 8 minutes. Add zucchini, rosemary, marjoram, thyme, salt and pepper, and sauté for another 5 minutes. Add spinach, currants, and pine nuts, and sauté for 10 more minutes. Avoid overloading the skillet by cooking in batches.

4. Combine vegetable mixture and cooked quinoa. Place a spoonful inside each cabbage leaf and fold each side in. Rolls, even the ugly ones, will keep their shape if they are packed tightly into a deep baking dish. Otherwise, secure each with a toothpick if necessary. Spoon leftover vegetable mixture on top to garnish.

5. Make sauce (proportion: one cup tomato sauce to 1/3 cup brown sugar to ¼ cup lemon juice). Pour it over the stuffed cabbage in the baking dish. Make enough sauce to cover. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 to 2 hours. 6. Enjoy. Freeze and enjoy some more.