Emily's Kitchen: Stuffed Cabbage

Before I even came to Istanbul, my favorite Turkish restaurant in Boston was Saray Restaurant on Comm Ave, near Boston University. Every time I went there, I would order their Lahana Dolmasi, or stuffed cabbage. It was SOOO good! Naturally, I had to try this one out for myself here in Turkey. When people usually hear the word "dolma," they exclusively think of stuffed grape leaves. But the word "dolma" itself actually only means "stuffed" and it can be applied to many kinds of edible wrappings. The concept of stuffing a mixture of rice and meat into other food is huge in Turkish cooking. You can stuff grape-leaves, peppers, eggplant, mussels (my favorite!!), and even cabbage, which is what I am dealing with tonight. Wrapping the meat mixture with the cabbage leaves was surprisingly easy. And I loved how healthy it was; cabbage is supposed to be very good for you. I topped off my dolmas with a home-made tomato sauce and low-fat yogurt. Yum!