Lamb Dolmades & Greek Tomato Salad

A trip to the Mediterranean for your taste buds: Dolmades & Greek Tomato Salad

Lamb Dolmades

• Grape leaves (they will be in a jar, with the specialty pickled items in the grocery store)
• 1 pound ground lamb, browned and drained
• 2 cups cooked rice
• 1 small onion, sauteed
• 3-5 cloves garlic, minced
• Handful of fresh parsley, or equivalent dried
• 2 Tablespoons cardamom
• 1 Tablespoon coriander
• Salt & pepper (or grains of paradise), to taste
• Olive oil
• 1 cup chicken stock

In a large bowl, combine the lamb, rice, onion, garlic, spices, and a drizzle of olive oil.

On a plate, place 1 grape leaf. Add 1-2 Tablespoons of the filling, depending on the size of the leaf.

Roll up the grape leaf following the steps below:

(Note: If some of your grape leaves have holes, patch them with small pieces of another leaf. For extra-small leaves, you can finagle 2 leaves together to wrap the filling.)

Place leaves in a pan, drizzle with olive oil and add chicken stock until the liquid is about halfway up the grape leaves. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes.

(They don't actually turn more yellow during cooking, it's just my camera flash.)

Greek Tomato Salad

• 2 pints grape tomatoes, halved
• 1 cup feta cheese
• 1 cup pitted kalamata olives
• 2 Tablespoons lemon juice
• 2 Tablespoons olive oil
• Handful of fresh mint, torn
• 1 Tablespoon dill
• Salt & pepper, to taste

There's really no need for pictures of the process here. Toss everything in a bowl and mix!

Tzatziki Sauce

See the recipe on my previous post Greek-a-licious


Time to eat!