Dolmas or Dolmades (Stuffed Grape Leaves)

This is a dish with a 1000 possibilities. Here is one variation. When I am on Cortes Island I get grape leaves from a neighbour’s vineyards. I then blanch the leaves in hot water. You can buy grape leaves in a jar at some specialty stores. They too have been blanched so this is not a raw dish. You can substitute any lettuce leaf if you want it raw.

Ingredients:
 
Rice:

• Parsnips or Cauliflower (2 cups)
• Pine nuts (Cashews or any nuts ½ cup soaked 8 hours)
• Parsley
• Raisins (currants, 10+)
• Lemon juice (1/2 lemon)
• Olive Oil (4 tbs)
• Salt to taste

Sauce for pouring over:

• Sprouts (1 cup, can omit)
• Lemon Juice (1/2 lemon)
• Garlic (4 cloves, crushed)
• Tahini (2 tbs)
• Braggs or any type of Tamari sauce (1 tbs)
• Cumin (1 heaping tbs)
• Cayanne (1 tbs or any hotish spice)

Assembling Grape Leaves

For the rice, put all the ingredients in a food processor except the oil. Blend until the parsnips are Rice size. Put in a bowl, pour in the Olive Oil and stir. Some recipes call for the raisins to be whole so you can add them at the end with the oil if you prefer. In place of parsnips you can use cauliflower, rutabaga or jicama (chop and drain jicama first as it is watery). This recipe when seen in other recipe books or on the web calls for currants and pine nuts. I can afford neither so I use other cheaper nuts and raisins.

For the sauce, blend all the items in a food processor. Lay a grape leaf on a plate. Add a spoon full of sauce and a spoonful of rice. Then fold the leaves. I learned how to fold the leaves by looking at Youtube videos. It just takes practice to know how much to put in the leaves and where to fold. I like these very lemony tasting so I add more lemon juice to the above recipes. You may be different. These are great alone or you can make a dip to dip these in.

The above makes enough for 6-7 people to have 4-5 each. The actual amount of Dolmas you can produce with the amount listed above varies greatly depending on the size of the grape leaves and the amount you stuff each leaf with. I stuff thin but others may like to stuff thick. So it is good to make these a little ahead of time and have other things waiting in the wings as you may end up not making as many as you thought you were. You can increase the amount of stuffing and if you have leftover dolmas, they keep great in a covered dish for 3 days in the fridge.

Raw tzatziki is a great dip for these but so is raw hummus or even just raw nut butters.

Different fillings for Dolmas:

Many variations are available. Grape leaves will take almost anything. It does not have to be a rice like mixture.

Ingredients:

• Pistachios (2 cups, soaked 8 hours)
• Sundried tomatoes (1/2 cup)
• Celery (2 med stalks)
• Red Bell pepper (1/2 medium)
• Green Onions (3 stalks)
• Parsley (or cilantro or basil)
• Salt to taste

Put all the ingredients in a food processor and mix thoroughly. Put in grape leaves with or without the parsnips rice from above.

Ingredients:

• Quinoa (sprouted 2 cups)
• Raisins (1/2 cup)
• Lemon Juice (juice from one medium lemon)  
   Parsley (1/2 cup chopped up)

   Mint (fresh chopped up to small, as much as you like)

• Salt to taste

Quinoa is easy to sprout. Rinse thoroughly and soak in water for 20 minutes. Then use sprouting tray, sprouting jar of a colander to allow the quinoa to drain and sprout. Leave out in a spot not in direct sunlight and wait 16-24 hours. The quinoa should have little tails and be softish tasting. They will not taste as good as cooked quinoa but are excellent in dishes like this. Mix all ingredients in a bowl and put in grape leaves. Salud! The photos below were taken by Jenna Cragg!