I am not sure what it is about grape leaves but I love them. Anything that makes food fun, great to entertain and something different is always a winner with me. You have seen me stuff them with meat asian style on NBC but now I am going back to my route and doing it the meditaranian way. At the next party skip the bigs in a blanket and do it the guilt free way.

Ingredients:

1 Jar Grape Leaves
3/4 Cup Rice Uncooked
2 Cups Water
1/3 Cup white Raisin
1 tsp Salt
1 TBS Olive Oil
1/2 Onion Chopped
1 Lemon

First start by adding oil to a pot and browning the onion lightly. Add rice and water and bring it up to a boil. Once boiling add raisin’s, parsley and salt. Lower to a simmer and cook till liquid is almost gone but make sure to stir every few minutes. Once done place rice in a container and chill in fridge for about an hour to cool.

Now for the fun part. Take about five grape leaves out at a time and rinse well to remove brine. Lay one leaf flat on counter and place about a tablespoon of rice in the shape of your thumb on one edge. Then roll the leaf like you would any wrapper with folding in the sides and rolling the filling to the other side. Place each one on a well sprayed cookie sheet. Once all the rice is rolled spray the tops with oil or none stick spray and squeeze with lemon juice. Broil on low for a few minutes on each side. Make sure you watch them the whole time. They will burn easy if your not careful.

I like to serve them warm with a simple yogurt sauce. Enjoy