Wraps are just one of those foods that people love. They’re quick, they’re convenient, they’re portable, and they’re tasty. Unfortunately though, flour wraps are often heavily processed and devoid of nutrients. I know how hard it can be to give up foods you love, even when you know they just aren’t health-supportive. Even still, sometimes the convenience of a wrap is just so nice, and it can be hard to substitute that while following a whole-foods diet. This is where leaves come in!
Did you know that you can make delicious wraps out of, literally, just leaves? I’m talking about taking a big, hearty leaf (collard greens, cabbage, kale, romaine, etc), stuffing it with a filling, and wrapping it up. I know this idea isn’t new to many of you, but I remember how excited I was the first time I heard about this concept. It’s beyond simple, and can be very filling and delicious. One more awesome thing: Leaves don’t get soggy. Let’s see flour wraps do that!
For this recipe, we used a head of cabbage that we had sitting in our fridge for about a week. Since it wasn’t exactly picked fresh that morning, the leaves were not as firm as they had been previously. But this was actually perfect, since it meant the leaves were more pliable and slightly stretchy, while still being tough and resistant to ripping or tearing.
Typically I’m a fan of eating foods as fresh as you can get them. The minute a fruit or vegetable is harvested, the nutritional content begins to decline. Vitamins, antioxidants, and other phytonutrients degrade over time, leaving us with a nutritionally inferior product. But this recipe will actually work better with a cabbage that’s seen a few days or so, and I’m not about to throw out a slightly wilted head of cabbage just because it’s a week old! I’m so sorry for neglecting you, Cabbage Sir, but I will take you slightly wilted over no cabbage at all! P.S. The next time you neglect a vegetable past edibility, instead of throwing it out, freeze it in a veggie scrap bin and make broth out of it. Just don’t save anything that’s mouldy.
Tempeh Cabbage Wraps with Sticky Rice
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
Author: Nicole
Category: Main Dish
Makes: 8 wraps
Ingredients
- 3 cups sticky rice, cooked
Tempeh
- 1 block of organic tempeh, sliced into strips
- 1-2 tablespoons cold-pressed organic coconut oil
- 2 cloves of garlic, sliced
Wrap
- 1 green cabbage
- 1 organic cucumber, cut into fourths and sliced lengthwise
- 6 organic green onions, sliced lengthwise
- 1 carrot, cut into fourths and sliced lengthwise
- 1 organic red bell pepper, cut into thin strips
- organic gluten-free tamari, for drizzling
Directions
- Heat coconut oil over medium heat in a large skillet. Lay tempeh strips down so they are not overlapping, then add garlic slices. Cook for 10 minutes, flipping the strips a few times. Each side should be slightly browned.
- Slice all your ingredients and lay out on a cutting board or dish for filling the wraps.
- Peel any wilted outer leaves of your cabbage that you do not wish to use. If the leaves are clean, you can save them to use in making homemade broth. Once the outer leaves are removed, continue peeling the leaves off to use as wraps. Peel each leaf off, one by one, being careful not to rip them. You will need about 8 cabbage leaves for this recipe, but can use more or less depending on their size. We used less than half of our head of cabbage to get enough leaves.
- Place the cabbage leaves in front of you, so that they are naturally forming a cup shape. In the bottom of each leaf place a few tablespoons of warm rice. Drizzle with a small amount of tamari. Unless you use too much tamari, the rice should soak up the tamari and prevent the wrap from dripping. On top of the rice, layer tempeh strips, green onion, cucumber, carrot, and bell pepper. Wrap up the leaves tightly and enjoy! This was actually much less messier than expected – I washed my plate only out of habit, and not because I needed to.
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