RECIPE: Summer Grape Leaf Wraps
dolmas but make it ndn
wholesome, chilly, they fit in your river cooler…
This recipe was originally featured in my column, Chími Nu’am in News From Native California, Summer 2019.
I love grape leaf wraps because they are an excellent way to use up leftover rice, they’re served cold and they’re so refreshing, sweet, and savory for the summertime.
I also appreciate that they are extremely versatile. You can wrap them in mullein, cabbage, store-bought or fresh grape leaves; you can fill them with ground meat, chopped acorns, or a mix of seeds like amaranth and quinoa. Though wild rice isn’t Native to California, using a mix of grains and seeds like coastal buckwheat, wild oats, and chia are traditional, so feel free to substitute as you like. I made these with wild rice to acknowledge that earlier this year the White Earth Band of Ojibwe passed a tribal law granting wild rice its own enforceable legal rights, making it illegal for a business or legal entity to violate the rights of the plant.
Ingredients
1 jar canned or 20-25 home lacto-fermented wild grape leaves
2 cups cooked wild rice (Preferably from Minnesota, if that isn’t feasible, I like Rancho Gordo, but use what you have available)
1/4 cup soaked dried berries (preferably a tart berry like huckleberry but even raisins or currants will do)
1/4 cup chopped chives (chives can be replaced with regular finely diced onion, or half onion, half garlic, it’s up to you)
3 tbsp pinons
1/2 cup finely minced parsley
1 tsp fennel pollen (or finely chopped fennel fronds)
1/4 cup mint, finely chopped
3 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp lemon juice
salt & pepper
Method
Mix all ingredients into a bowl.
Place grape leaf with the veiny side up, stem side closest to you. Place a dollop of your mix just above where the stem would go. Fold bottom flaps up, then side flaps, and roll into a compact package. Place in a lightly oiled glass dish, seam side down. Once they’re all rolled up, brush all the wraps with a light coat of olive oil and refrigerate.
*If using mullein leaves, you’ll want to steam them before refrigeration to soften the leaves. I do not recommend using raw grape leaves, they’re rich with tannins and may be bitter. A simple facto-fermentation for a week will leech them right out and give you the added bonus of probiotics.