Dolmathes With Attitude

Spoon tangy sorrel sauce over these couscous-stuffed grape leaves and you have dolmathes with attitude. Actually, serving sorrel sauce over stuffed grape leaves with a few boiled new potatoes is traditional in Central and Eastern Europe.

Sorrel is a lemony herb that will cook down to a creamy, almost fluffy sauce when sauteed. To keep the sauce light, I use nonfat milk and a touch of butter for flavor instead of the heavy cream and loads of butter normally used. The tartness of sorrel leaves varies, so taste the sauce before you add sugar; it may not need much at all.

The couscous filling is full of freshly sauteed vegetables accented with fresh dill and lemon juice.

For best results, the grape leaves should be stuffed and cooked, then allowed to cool in the broth about 30 minutes and finally refrigerated overnight or until serving time. The standing time allows them to firm up so the grape leaves are easier to handle and don’t fall apart when served.

Fresh sorrel is available in farmers markets at a reasonable price, but in a pinch you can use spinach. (If you use spinach, add lemon juice for tartness. Also, it won’t be necessary to add sugar to the sauce.) This sorrel sauce is also delicious when served with grilled fish, chicken or an omelet.

COUSCOUS-STUFFED GRAPE LEAVES WITH SORREL SAUCE

GRAPE LEAVES

Nonfat low-sodium chicken broth

1/2 (10-ounce) box couscous

Nonstick olive oil cooking spray

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 cup minced brown mushrooms

1/2 cup minced carrot

1/4 cup minced green onion

1/4 cup toasted pine nuts

2 tablespoons minced dillweed

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Salt

1 (8-ounce) jar whole grape leaves

Bring 1 1/4 cups chicken broth to boil. Stir in couscous. Cover and remove from heat. Let stand 5 minutes. Fluff with fork.

Spray wok or skillet with olive oil cooking spray. Add garlic, mushrooms and carrot and saute until mushrooms are tender, 2 to 3 minutes. Stir into couscous along with green onion, pine nuts, dillweed and lemon juice. Season to taste with salt.

Rinse grape leaves. Place 1 leaf, shiny side down, on counter. Snip off stem end. Spoon 1 generous tablespoon couscous filling onto grape leaf. Fold stem end of leaf over filling, then fold sides to center and roll up. Repeat with remaining grape leaves and filling.

Spray grill with nonstick olive oil and sear stuffed grape leaves on top of grill until lightly charred on all sides. Lightly spray grape leaves with olive oil while cooking.

Line bottom of large pot with unstuffed grape leaves. Arrange browned stuffed grape leaves, seam side down, in pot. Add chicken broth or water to cover. Put inverted plate on top of grape leaves to hold them in place while simmering. Bring to simmer, cover and cook until tender, 35 to 45 minutes. Remove from heat. Let stand to cool to warm. Remove plate from pot. Carefully remove cooked grape leaves to platter for serving.

SORREL SAUCE

1 pound sorrel leaves or spinach leaves

1 tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon flour

1/2 cup nonfat milk

1 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons sugar, or to taste

Wash sorrel and remove any tough stems. Coarsely chop leaves. Set aside.

Heat butter in large saucepan until melted. Blend in flour until smooth. Cook and stir until flour turns medium brown. Stir in chopped sorrel. Cook and stir until leaves wilt and turn brownish green in color, about 2 minutes. Stir in milk. Heat to simmering and stir until sauce thickens, about 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in salt and sugar to taste. To serve, spoon sorrel sauce over stuffed grape leaves.

Makes 32 stuffed grape leaves.

Each grape leaf contains about:

37 calories; 131 mg sodium; 1 mg cholesterol; 1 gram fat; 6 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams protein; 0.18 gram fiber.