Stuffed Cabbage Casserole

Our CSA provided us with the world's biggest cabbage.  What to make?  I thought of coleslaw and sauerkraut....I'm not a fan of sauerkraut, and Austin doesn't like either.  I hate having food go to waste, so a little big of googling, and I found a recipe from Skinny Taste.  It was hearty, delicious, and hardly tasted like cabbage :)  There was also so much cabbage that I made 2 casseroles, 1 for dinner that night and 1 for the freezer.  Enjoy!

Stuffed Cabbage Casserole

Ingredients
2 tsp olive oil, divided
1 lb lean ground beef
1 large onion, chopped
1 tbs finely minced garlic
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp Paprika
salt and pepper, to taste
1 extra large head green cabbage, coarsely chopped
1 can (14.5 oz.) petite dice tomatoes with juice
1 can (15 oz.) tomato sauce
1/4 cup water
2 cups cooked brown rice
2 cups low-fat mozzarella cheese
1 green pepper, chopped

Directions
Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray two large glass casserole dish with non-stick spray. (My dish was 13" x 9").

Heat a large frying pan on medium heat; add ground beef and cook until it's browned and cooked through, breaking it apart as it cooks. Remove ground beef and set aside.

In the same pan, add 1 tsp olive oil, chopped onion, green pepper and cook over medium heat until the onion is translucent and starting to brown, about 5 minutes. Add the minced garlic, thyme, and paprika and cook about 2 minutes more. Then add the diced tomatoes with juice, tomato sauce, and ground beef. Add water to the pan. Simmer until it's hot and slightly thickened, about 15-20 minutes.

While it simmers, cut cabbage in half, cut out the core, and remove any wilted outer leaves; chop the cabbage coarsely into 1 inch pieces.

Heat remaining olive oil in a large frying pan or dutch oven; add the cabbage and cook over medium-high heat until the cabbage is wilted and about half cooked, turning it over several times so it all wilts and cooks. Season with salt and fresh-ground black pepper.

When the meat and tomato sauce mixture has cooked and thickened a bit, stir in the 2 cups of cooked rice and gently combine.

Spray casserole dishes with non-stick spray and the layer half the cabbage, half the meat mixture, remaining cabbage, and remaining meat mixture. For the first dish, cover tightly with foil and bake 40 minutes, or until the mixture is just starting to bubble on the edges.  For the second dish, cover with foil, wrap in saran wrap, and freeze.

Remove foil and sprinkle on cheese. Bake uncovered an additional 20 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and starting to slightly brown. Serve hot.