I don’t like gourmet cooking or “this” cooking or “that” cooking.
I like good cooking.
~James Beard
August is here and the Spitfire nasturtium seeds planted months ago have grown to be happy ramblers in the garden. July was one of the wettest we’ve had in a while with above-average rainfall for the month. On the days it didn’t rain, it was HOT. Odd weather for us but it surely made for very lush growth in the garden.
Lush is the key word here, because though our Spitfire nasturtiums are blooming (and the color has encouraged daily visits from our resident hummingbird) the generous rainfall has prompted abundant leaf production. No worries, the leaves are edible and we like them…so this month I offer you our recipe for dolma using Spitfire nasturtium leaves instead of grape leaves. A delicious way to use the abundance and we took them on our canoe outing yesterday as a snack!
Stuffed Nasturtium Leaves (Dolma)
- 2 tsp. olive oil
- 1 medium sweet onion, minced
- 3/4 c. uncooked organic brown rice
- 1 tbsp. tomato paste
- 1 1/2 tsp. chopped dried apricots
- 1 1/2 tsp. chopped dried cherries
- 2 tsp. chopped pine nuts
- 1 Tbsp. each fresh minced mint, dill
- 1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp each cumin, allspice
- 15 large nasturtium leaves or 20-25 medium
Saute the onion in oil until soft. Add rice and 2 1/4 c. water, bring to a boil, cover and let cook until halfway done, about 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, put 1/4 c. water into a shallow skillet and bring to a simmer. Lay the nasturtium leaves into the water and cook just until they are limp and bright green, about 30 seconds. Remove and place quickly into a bowl of cold water. When cooled, remove and set on wax paper until ready to use.
When the rice is cooked, add the chopped fruits, tomato paste and spices. Mix well. Spoon 1 tsp. of rice mixture onto the cener of the leaf and fold each side over the filling. Roll up into a cigar shape and tuck the ends under.
Spoon 1 tsp. of rice mixture onto the cener of the leaf and fold each side over the filling. Roll up into a cigar shape and tuck the ends under. Place into a steamer filed with enough water to reach the bottom of the dolmas. Steam until the rice is fully cooked, about 45 minutes; adding water if necessary.
Remember to follow the grow-along fun with the other garden bloggers and see how their Spitfire nasturtiums are growing! You can find a list of participating friends here: Gardenbloggers.com.
“I’m growing Nasturtium “Spitfire” for the GROW project, thanks to ReneesGarden.com for the seeds”
Wow, your dolmas look so wonderful. And your Spitfires are a bit more orange than mine, which I like.
I’ve never heard of dolmas before but they sure do look tasty. Thanks for the recipe.
They’re tasty, LOL! I was wondering about the Spitfire color, I was expecting the blossoms to be more red…but the deep orange is beautiful!
I tried stuffed grape leaves a few years ago for the first time and I’ve used our grape leaves for the recipe as well. With so many nasturtium leaves it was perfect..and yummy!
I knew the flowers were edible, but I thought only grape leaves could be used to make dolmas. I have a friend who enjoys making them and will tell her that Nasturtium Leaves can be used.
Grape leaves are yummy, too! We have so many nasturtium leaves I wanted to use our abundance. Please let me know if your friend tries them!
With a huge Greek and Macedonian population in Toronto, we know dolmades. How inventive to try them with nasturtium leaves. Do they keep that peppery taste when cooked (I’ve used them in salads, checking carefully for aphids, of course!)?
They do have a peppery taste after cooking!I’m amazed that though we have nasturtiums bordering nearly all of our garden beds, no aphids have bothered them…I think the ladybugs are working!
This sounds really good and they’re so green and pretty when they’re done. I wonder who I can get to try it with me.
My “nasties” look nasty in comparison to most of y’alls. I reckon I could still eat them, that’s about the only thing I see out of mine that’s worth reporting. I’m really disappointed with how ‘Spitfire’ has performed in my yardens.
Another thing, how in the heck can Mr. BT say dolmas look tasty?? They look awful! But don’t get me wrong, sometimes awful = delicious in taste mathematics. (Most Yankees I know think gravy looks awful, but eat it anyway. And grits too.)
LOL! Our kids would agree with you about the looks of the dolmas! They are tasty though and a nice light sumer dinner when the temperatures have been hovering near 90 all week. I must confess I LOVE grits (my father grew up on them and passed the love to me) and if you add gravy to them… YUM! Thanks for reading, I’m sorry your Spitfire nasturtiums didn’t do well, mine started rather shabby but turned out well in the end.