Incorrigible Forageables: Wild Grape Leaves

When harvesting, make sure to gather the young, tender, green leaves.  The older leaves are woody and fibrous.

Here's a fun fact about grape leaves: historically they have been added to pickle jars to keep the pickled items crispy!  Grape leaves produce a lot of tannins which serve this purpose!  Make sure any high-tannin leaf you are using for this is NOT sprayed with any chemicals or pesticides.

Stuffed Wild Grape Leaves - the recipe is time intensive, but you can make them in a huge batch and freeze the rest.  Recipe from  http://www.keyingredient.com/recipes/105403/stuffed-wild-grape-leaves/

Yields: 6 servings
Ingredients

• 6 dozen grape leaves rinsed.
• 2 C leftover rice
• 1 lb hamburger
• 1 minced onion
• 6 cloves of garlic minced
• ½ C chopped pecans
• 1 handful plantain chopped (this is a wild green, you could substitute swiss chard or spinach)
• 2 TB lemon juice
• salt
• pepper

Directions

1. Preparing the Leaves. Young leaves are best. Choose leaves that are bright green, and about as large as a woman’s hand.
2. Rinse leaves and then bring a pot of water with 1 tsp salt to boil. Add leaves and boil a few minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water.
3. The Stuffing - Brown hamburger with onion and garlic. Drain if needed. Add salt, pepper, and nuts. Cook a few more minutes. Mix with remaining ingredients. Allow to cool.
4. Place the leaf stem side up. Put about 1 TB of stuffing on near the stem end. Fold the sides in and roll tightly, and place in a shallow baking dish.
5. The rolls can simply be brushed with olive oil or baked with about a cup of tomato sauce or water. I prefer them baked with tomato sauce.
6. Bake at 300 F for 50 minutes.