Napa Cabbage Rolls

Napa cabbage has gain increasing popularity these days -- it is very low in calorie yet highly nutritious. A cup of shredded Napa cabbage contains a mere 20 calories, 0 grams of fat, yet contains 1 gram of protein, provides 26% RDA Vitamin A, 46% RDA Vitamin C, and even 5%  RDA Calcium.

Napa cabbage is also very versatile, as it can be eaten raw or cooked, as a wrapper or the main ingredient, all very delicious! I made these rolls for D's lunch, and here is what to do:



1. The wrapper: Get your hands on some nice and large cabbage leaves, and chop off some of the white part, and blanch in boiling water for 5 min, or until the leaves are soft. To be frugal, those can be used in cooking other dishes (recipes will be posted later). Don't you just love this vegetable a bit more now?

After blanching, take the leaves out and let them cool down. You can start slicing some nice fillings at the mean time.

2. The filling: The choice is totally up to you. I used some carrots, broccoli stalks, eggplant, and some pre-soaked Lilly flower (yeah, they are edible! low cal and high fiber content).

I also threw in some pre-cooked dried Tofu slices to add some protein, which you can find in almost any Asian grocery store.

3. Assemble: It's pretty straight forward. When the leaves are cool enough to touch, lay one leaf flat down on the chopping board, and evenly distribute the fillings. If you do not like eating raw food, microwave them for 1 min was sufficient enough for me.  I also added some Hoisin sauce as flavor booster.

Now you are ready to roll! Starting from the white part and make a nice, tight roll towards the leafy end. The final products are as the first picture you see.

I actually made four rolls, with one medium carrot, one broccoli stalk, 1/4 of a small egg plant, a handful of Lilly flower, 1/10 lbs of the tried Tofu. Total cost? Probably around $2.5. Napa cabbage has gone up in price. The total calories for four rolls comes to under 200, too low for a complete meal. So to make the lunch complete, I added half of a whole wheat garlic bun and a slice of beet cake. I hope D will find this vegetarian lunch yummy and filling!