Cabbage, Ground Beef, & Orzo Casserole

So we've had a chicken dish for most of the week - we finished off the last of the chicken parmigiana and pasta on Wednesday night. Neither of us were feeling another chicken dish for the next couple of nights. In the morning, I researched the meats I had in my freezer. I decided on the lean ground beef. Then I looked in the fridge ...esp the veggies that I needed to use up. Ahem...the half head of cabbage that I was going to use for my pancit that I never did. I also didn't feel like another night of pasta noodles so I checked my grains in the pantry. I had orzo, penne, brown jasmine rice, couscous, and quinoa. Hmmm.

Next I sat down in front of the computer and did a half-hour's worth of research on what I can make for dinner ---without having to go to the supermarket. What I found was this Eastern European concoction of cabbage, ground beef, and orzo casserole. There are a lot of steps...Sautee #1 the ground beef mixture Sautee #2 the cabbage mixture...then the oven. But I was done in less than an hour. So if you don't mind the steps...this is a really good dish, we found out. A keeper. Jack said to "add it to the repertoire."

Here is the link: http://www.cookthink.com/recipe/10032/Beef_Orzo_And_Cabbage_Casserole

Of course, I made some changes from the original recipe. I never have all the ingredients in the house ever. So...

• I didn't want to open a bottle of good red wine just for this dish...so I substituted sherry cooking wine.

• I didn't have fresh parsley in the fridge and wasn't going to the store just to buy a bunch of parsley...so I went without.

• I added extra paprika & red pepper flakes (because we like things spicy).

• And after it baked, Jack's half of the casserole ---I mixed in feta crumbles. I left my side of it as it is.

I served with salad.

Oh yeah...it's what's for dinner tonight as well. For two people, the casserole should be good for two nights. I might do shrimp skewers to dip in the tzatziki (that I made the other night) this evening, just to make things a lil' different. Eastern European and Greek this evening. :)

PS: The recipe only calls for 1 tbsp of tomato paste. It's cheaper to buy the can than the tube ...but there's always the "what do I do with the rest of the tomato paste in the opened can?" I put them in ice cube trays and when frozen, put the tomato paste cubes in the freezer bags and back in the freezer for later use. Wala. You can do this with stock too.

God... it's a lot of organizing and researching to be frugal and be healthy in the kitchen. And believe me, I'm not the most domestic housewife there is. On the contrary... but this is trying to hopefully be more "green", more organic, more economic, and healthier. Sheesh.