Grape leaves are SO EASY.

A couple nights ago I had gone shopping and I found some pickled grape leaves at the super store in the ethnic food section. My intentions were to create some! There's this very decent restaurant in downtown GR that sells sandwiches and platters for reasonable prices and you get your bang for your buck. They kind of inspired me to make stuffed grape leaves myself.

The recipe is simple, it is the process that is tedious and sometimes even vexing. If you're using pickled leaves, it was suggested (in the recipe I found online) to rinse my leaves, then pour boiling water over them to let them sit for 10 minutes at least. After doing so, the rest of the process is similar to making burritos...with leaves. Easy right?

The stuffing as you can see in the amazing picture, was UNCOOKED basmati rice, herbs and aromatics. Regular and green onions, parsley, mint, a small drop of sambal pepper paste (the recipe called for 1/4 chili pepper but had none on hand). Then one cup of rice, S&P, a little bit of oil and voila! The stuffing has been made!

It calls for a relatively large saucepan to simmer the bundles in. Having rolled them to resemble cigars, (the hardest part really) the online recipe also stated that you should line the pan with excess leaves. A barrier to separate the heat I am thinking, don't want to scorch anything. They are then drizzled with more olive oil, and then just topped off with boiling water and set to simmer for 45 minutes. Be sure to press them down with a plate or blanketed weight of some kind.

The flavors are very subtle, and they need to cool down a bit for sure before you can consume them. the next time I make them, I will add more salt and pepper than I thought would be necessary, and maybe some tofu crumbles. Perhaps browning the onion before mixing it into the stuffing. Tomato? Bread crumbs? Olives?! So many possibilities. So good!

 

Enjoy!

P.s. the reheat-re-eat value is pretty decent as well, warm is better than piping hot though! The rice may be a little chewier than when fresh, but if you add more water during the cooking process, that might be a variable. And they make great additions to things like soups, curries, etc. Go wild!