Recipe: Stuffed Grape Leaves and Wineberry Sangria

WINEBERRY SANGRIA:
Serves 8-10

2 cups wineberries or raspberries
1 750 ml bottle of Riesling or other fruity/semi sweet wine – Grape juice or ginger-ale can be substituted for non-alcoholic version.
2 bottles of Kombucha – flavor of choice – we used 1 bottle citrus and 1 bottle hibiscus
2 T honey
Fresh orange slices – plus more for decorating sides of serving glasses.

1. Mix all together and chill well.

STUFFED GRAPE LEAVES
Makes about 30

30 wild grape leaves
Sea salt
1/4 cup white vinegar
DRESSING:
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1/4 cup red clover or apple cider vinegar
1 tea Dijon
2 T honey
1/2 cup olive oil or more to taste
FILLING:
2 onions, chopped finely
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup olives – black, green or a combination, chopped
1/2 cup feta cheese, crumbled
3 T milkweed buds
1 T milkweed pods, chopped
2 T field garlic kernels
1 T black mustard seeds
2 crisp apples, cored and chopped fine
1/4 cup raw pumpkin seeds
1 T herb spice blend of choice – TJ’s 21 salute is very nice
4 cups COOKED millet

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add 1/4 cup white vinegar and grape leaves. Simmer at least 10 minutes, then turn off flame and steep leaves until cooled enough to touch the without burning.
2. In a jar or food processor, add all the dressing components and mix well until smooth.
3. In a large bowl, combine all of the stuffing components** and mix well.
4. Add 1/2 the dressing to the stuffing and mix. Add more dressing a little at a time or until the filling starts to clump together easily.
5. To stuff: Lay one grape leaf down on a flat surface – pretty side down – and top with about 1 T filling. Fold both sides over the filling and bring one flap up then the other and, while guiding the stuffing inward, roll the leaf away from you until a tight cylinder is formed.
6. Continue with rest of the leaves and brush with olive oil to keep the leaves moist and glossy.

** The ingredients we used were what we had on hand. Please feel free to add, subtract or change any of the filling ingredients. Rice for millet, cranberries for apples, sunflower seeds for pumpkin seeds. . . etc. Also, if you have a favorite bottled dressing, you can use that vs the homemade dressing above, although in our opinion, homemade is always best :)

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