Grape Leaves have been my favorite dish since I was a young girl growing up going to my favorite restaurant, the Lebanese Taverna. Unfortunately, rolling each individual stuffed grape leaf can be time consuming and tedious. Enter Unstuffed Grape Leaves, a dish with all the flavors of my favorite grape leaves but packaged in a quick and easy rice bowl. You can serve this meat filling over rice or cauliflower rice and if you want a little something extra you can even serve it with this Dill Yogurt Sauce I like to dunk stuffed grape leaves into.
To make this #dinnerdoneby9am I fully prepare the meat mixture in the morning, without adding the lemon. Then I refrigerate all day, reheat while the rice cooks and add lemon just before serving.
-2 Tbsp olive oil
-1 onion, diced
-1 lb ground beef
-4 cloves garlic, minced
-1 tsp dried parsley
-1/2 tsp dried dill
-1/2 tsp dried oregano
-1/2 tsp salt
-1/2 tsp black pepper
-1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
-small (6 oz) jar grape leaves, chopped
-juice of 1 lemon
-(optional) fresh parsley or Dill Yogurt Sauce for serving
Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add chopped onion and ground beef. Cook, while stirring and breaking up beef with a spoon, until beef is no longer pink. Add garlic, saute 1 additional minute. Add parsley, dill, oregano, salt, pepper and red pepper flakes, stir well. Add chopped grape leaves, cook, stirring often, 5 additional minutes. Remove from heat, stir in lemon juice and serve over rice or cauliflower rice with parsley or Dill Yogurt Sauce for sprinkling.
