Brown Rice Stuffed Grape Leaves are delicious, impressive appetizers or first courses. Serve them with some cheese and a salad they can even make a delightful light meal. They are just as good at room temperature or chilled, so feel free to make them a day or two in advance.
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 2 hours
Total Time: 2 hours, 10 minutes
Ingredients:
- 2 Tbsp. olive oil
- 4 onions, finely chopped
- 1 tsp. salt
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 8 green onions, finely chopped
- 2 cups short grain brown rice
- 1/2 cup pine nuts
- 1/2 cup sunflower seeds
- 1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper (it seems like a lot, but it works)
- 1/4 cup minced fresh mint (again, trust me, this amount is delicious)
- 5 dozen grape leaves
- Your favorite olive oil for drizzling
- Lemon wedges for serving
- Fresh goat cheese or soft feta (optional)
Preparation:
- Heat a saute pan or medium pot over medium-high heat. Add oil, onion, and salt. Cook, stirring a fair amount, until onions are tender, about 3 minutes.
- Add garlic and cook until tender, about 1 minute.
- Add green onion and cook, stirring, until wilted, about 1 minute.
- Add rice, stir to coat thoroughly, and add 3 cups water. Bring to a boil, cover, and reduce heat to low. Cook, undisturbed, for 30 minutes. Turn off heat and let sit 15 minutes.
- Uncover, fluff, and stir in pine nuts and sunflower seeds. Let sit until just warm and stir in pepper and mint. Taste and adjust salt and pepper to taste.
- Lay a grape leaf in front of you. Add a spoonful of filling to the center by the stem. Fold up the bits of leaf below the stem and tuck under – as you can – to form a little bundle. Fold sides of leaves over the filling bundle and roll entire bundle to wrap completely in the remaining grape leaf.
- Place stuffed and rolled grape leaves on a lightly oiled baking tray. Cover with aluminum foil and bake at 350 for about half and hour. Uncover and drizzle grape leaves with high quality, really tasty olive oil. Let sit until warm or cool and serve with lemon wedges for spritzing and dollops of goat cheese or feta for extra tang.
