Always a crowd pleaser, these Meat Stuffed Grape Leaves are delicious warm, cold or room temperature. My mom loves to add celery stalks and a couple of cabbage leaves to the pot for added flavor while cooking.
MEAT STUFFED GRAPE LEAVES
I am so excited to be sharing these Meat Stuffed Grape Leaves with you along with a review of my friend Liz Della Croce, from The Lemon Bowl’s, newest eCookbook, Food From Our Ancestors: The Ultimate Syrian Sunday Dinner.
Liz’s new eCookbook includes so many of my favorite recipes from my childhood. As many of you know my family is Lebanese and our cuisines are pretty similar from these Meat Stuffed Grape Leaves, to Tabbouleh, to Lubee: Lebanese Green Beans, to Baked Kibbeh and more, we grew up eating the same foods and both share a love of all things Mediterranean and Middle Eastern.
When I started my food blog five years ago Liz was one of the first blogs I came across because of course I was drawn to her passion for Mediterranean food and her emphasis on healthy eating and living. Liz also is a mom of boys and lives in Michigan, two things I can relate to. Michigan will always hold a special place in my heart and I enjoying following along with her life in Grand Rapids.
I think that preserving our family recipes and sitting down to a home cooked meal on a Sunday night is so important. There is nothing better than taking the time to connect and talk over delicious food. I have made many of Liz’s recipes and they are not only packed with flavor but also packed with healthy ingredients. You can feel good about putting her recipes on the table for your family, knowing that what they are eating is going to nourish their bodies.
I encourage you to buy her bundle of all four eCookbooks {links below} but if nothing else buy The Ultimate Syrian Sunday Dinners eCookbook to have all those favorite Mediterranean recipes at your fingertips.
Are you wondering what recipes you can find inside her eCookbook?
Here are a few of her family recipes you can find:
Aunt Vieve’s Hummus with Toasted Pine Nuts
Cucumber Laban
Tabbouleh Salad
Syrian Salad
Syrian Chicken Soup
Syrian Rice Pilaf
M/Juddarah: Lentils and Rice with Caramelized Onions
Stuffed Cabbage Rolls
Bitten: Jen: Meat Stuffed Eggplant
You can purchase your own copy of The Ultimate Syrian Sunday Dinner ($3.99) here or the Bundle of All Four ($12.99 – a huge value!) here I can guarantee you a lot of healthy, delicious meals in your future with those eCookbooks in your hands.
Meat Stuffed Grape Leaves
Always a crowd pleaser, these meat- stuffed grape leaves are delicious warm, cold or room temperature. My mom loves to add celery stalks and a couple of cabbage leaves to the pot for added flavor while cooking.
Ingredients
- one 2-pound jar of grape leaves (roughly 50 leaves)
- 1 pound ground sirloin
- 1/2 cup long-grain white rice, rinsed
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper juice of two lemons
- 2 celery stalks, cut into thirds (optional)
- 5 cabbage leaves, optional
- 2 tablespoons dried mint
- cabbage leaves.
Instructions
- 1. Line a large pot with celery ribs and loose cabbage leaves.
- 2. Place grape leaves on a plate and trim any large, thick stems off bottom.
- 3. In a large bowl, combine ground meat, rice, juice of 1 lemon, garlic, salt and
- pepper.
- 4. Working one grape leaf at a time, place the leaf at on a plate and add 1 tablespoon of the meat mixture near stem.
- 5. Form meat into thin cigar shapes, then roll the grape leaf starting at the stem all the way to the top. No need to fold in sides but they’ll look nicer if you do.
- 6. Line stuffed grape leaves in pot, alternating direction with each layer, until the pot is lled 3/4 of the way or you’ve used all your leaves.
- 7. Cover the grape leaves with water, making sure there’s at least one inch of liquid above the grape leaves. Pour in remaining lemon juice and add dried mint.
- 8. Cover grapes leaves with a small plate turned upside down to keep them from moving and to weigh them down.
- 9. Cover pot with lid and bring to a simmer.
- 10. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes or until rice is fully cooked. Serve with pita bread and cucumber laban.
Liz @ The Lemon Bowl
Tuesday 19th of September 2017
Thank you so much for helping spread the word about my book friend!! Wish we could eat this food together!!
Julia
Tuesday 19th of September 2017
I love everything about this book! And yes, I wish we could share this delicious food together too! I can't wait to make everything in this book. <3 Congrats!