Dolmas are a family of dishes from the Ottoman empire that can be served hot or cold. Some recipes add meat (typically beef) - we prefer the texture of vegetarian dolma but feel free to mix this into your rice mixture if you would like. I typically make this recipe with blanched collard green leaves during the fall when I'm nearly overrun with them from my garden. However, these are traditionally made with grape leaves which you can get from your local grocery store.
Ingredients
1 recipe Brown rice or black rice risotto
45 Grape leaves or 15 blanched collard green leaves
~2 cups chicken broth
Olive oil to drizzle
2 lemons, juiced
1. Take a covered baking dish (mine is Pyrex) and line the bottom with leaves.
2. Lay the collard green or grape leaves on your cutting board. Depending on the size of the grape leaves I sometimes layer two together, as below. Place 2-3 tablespoons of risotto in the middle of the leaf. Fold/wrap
3. Place into the leaf-lined baking dish. Repeat until the container is completely full.
4. Cover stuffed leaves with more leaves. Press gently to tightly pack them. Drizzle olive oil over the entire dish.
5. Microwave lemons for 30 seconds (this breaks the cell walls inside the lemon and allow more juice to be released). Juice lemons and pour over the stuffed leaves.
6. Pour enough chicken broth into the container to completely cover the leaves and put the top on the container. Place in a 350 degree oven for 1 hour.
7. Serve and enjoy! These can be eaten warm straight out of the oven, at room temperature, or cold.
Nutrition Facts (approx. for 4 stuffed leaves)
Calories: 179
Total Fat: 6.9 g
Saturated Fat: 1 g
Sodium: 431 mg
Total Carbohydrate: 25.7 g
Dietary Fiber: 3.6 g
Added Sugar: 0 g
Total Protein: 3.7 g
These make a wonderful appetizer (I often bring to football games) as above, or are a great addition to a mezze dinner, as below where we've paired it with babaganouj, grilled chicken, and feta.
