Wild Grape Leaf Rice

Every summer when I’m hiking through the Bradshaw Mountains, I keep an eye out for wild grape vines climbing over trees and weaving through the brush. Their leaves are one of my favorite wild foods to gather.

If you’ve ever dreamed of making traditional stuffed grape leaves (dolmades), you’ve probably discovered the same thing I did—our wild grape leaves are usually much smaller than the cultivated varieties you’ll find at Mediterranean markets. While you can stuff the larger leaves, most of the wild ones simply aren’t worth the effort.

Fortunately, there’s an easier way.

Instead of wrapping the filling inside each leaf, I chop the grape leaves and cook them directly into the rice. You end up with all of the bright, lemony, herbal flavors of traditional Greek dolmades with a fraction of the work.

It has become one of my favorite summer meals after a morning of foraging.

One of my philosophies when cooking with wild Sonoran Desert plants is to look toward Mediterranean cuisine for inspiration.

The Mediterranean climate shares many similarities with ours, and countless herbs, trees, and edible plants grow naturally in both regions—or have become well adapted here over time.

Rather than trying to invent completely new recipes, I love borrowing traditional flavor combinations from Greece, Italy, France, Turkey, and other Mediterranean cultures that have been cooking with these plants for centuries.

Lemon, olive oil, mint, dill, oregano, thyme, grapes, olives…these ingredients naturally complement one another because generations of cooks have already figured it out.

Sometimes the best way to cook wild foods is simply to let history be your guide.

• Harvest only young, healthy grape leaves before they become tough.
• Pick only a small portion from each vine so it continues to thrive.
• Wash the leaves well before cooking.
• Store cleaned grape leaves wrapped in a paper towel, placed in a gallon ziplock bag or beeswax wrap, in the refrigerator for  a week or less.
• To store long-term, you can can grape leaves the traditional way or freeze clean and dry leaves in a ziploc in the freezer.

This rice makes an excellent side dish, but it’s also satisfying enough to be a light meal on its own.

For a complete Mediterranean-inspired dinner, I like to serve it with:

• Warm pita bread
• Creamy hummus
• My cured foraged olives (see the recipe here)
• A simple cucumber and tomato salad
• Greek chicken for anyone wanting to add meat

Add a drizzle of good olive oil, squeeze another wedge of lemon over the rice, and enjoy everything family-style around the table.

Food is about more than just ingredients.

One of my favorite ways to slow down and enjoy a meal is to put on some traditional Greek music while dinner is cooking. It instantly transports the table to a small village overlooking the Mediterranean Sea, even if you’re sitting on your back patio in Arizona after a morning spent foraging.

Simple food. Wild ingredients. Good company.

That’s pretty hard to beat. In fact, if you like this, you’ll love coming to one of our Foraged Feasts or Foraging workshops.

Gaia’s Garden
Toby Hemenway

Southwest Foraging
John Slattery

Southwest Medicinal Plants
John Slattery

Medicinal Plants of the American Southwest
Charles Kane