Day 347

Dolmas: As I've mentioned a million times before, shopping for this blog has become extremely difficult, and with less than 3 weeks left, it's almost impossible for me to find things that are new to me. Well, in Atlanta, anyway. I had to do some shopping today, but I wanted to make a conscious effort to stay away from the Buford Highway Farmers Market. As great as it is, I just didn't want to resort to it during this trip, so I explored other options that luckily turned out well.

Even though traditional big-box grocery stores don't offer me much anymore, some chains offer fare that not every location has. I decided to hit the Toco Hills "Kosher Kroger," hoping to find some interesting Kosher products. I'd been there a couple times before with good luck, which I hoped to repeat. I did find one Kosher item (more on that later this week), but I also found something else on the fresh Mediterranean olive bar near the front of the store that was new to me: dolmas.

I knew enough about Mediterranean cuisine to know that dolmas were stuffed grape leaves, and these were filled with long-grain rice. They appeared to be served with some sort of lemon sauce, so I scooped up a couple with a bit of the sauce to take home. I love being able to buy things by the pound in situations like this - a couple dolmas only cost me a little over a dollar. I've eaten Greek/Mediterranean cuisine many times, but I'd never gotten around to trying these.

Once I gave these a try tonight, I was impressed. Each piece was tightly rolled, so I cut through the outer grape leaf, which revealed the rice filling. The grape leaves were extremely tender, almost like collard greens in texture, and they were a good pair for the rice filling. They had a mild flavor that reminded me of other leafy greens I've tried, but a bit more salty. Not much to report with the rice (it was just plain rice), but there was a strong lemon flavor that I assume came from the sauce it was served in. Not sure if that's typical, but it was tasty just the same.

I've got some super-interesting stuff coming up over the next couple days...stick with me.