Food Allergies Get You Back in the Kitchen, <i>Stuffed Vine Leaves Recipe</i>

by Danielle Margulies

One of the biggest adjustments to make in your lifestyle when coping with a food allergy is rediscovering or even discovering your own kitchen because preparing your own food is really the only way to be 100% sure you can avoid any allergens.

British chef Gordon Ramsay launched a campaign last year, to "Get Women Back in the Kitchen"! Whatever you might think of Gordon and however sexist that sounds – the point is to get people away from processed food and in the case of food allergies back in control of what they eat. Men and women need to get back in the kitchen and when you're dealing with food allergies it's an inevitable step towards taking care of your own or your family's health and well-being.

It is a daunting thought in our maxed-out, scheduled to breaking point daily lives, to make time to delve into the time consuming process of cooking from scratch, but by beginning with simple goals in the kitchen and building up a repertoire of quick, easy standby recipes you actually end up saving time and money and can feel confident that you are preparing safe, nutritious food.

The first step in the process of getting back to the kitchen and very apt for this time of year is to spring clean your kitchen cupboards and throw out any allergens lying around. If one of your family members can eat something that you or someone else cannot, take the time to store the offending ingredients in airtight containers, allocating them to their own section of the cupboard or fridge to avoid any cross contamination.

The most common place for cross contamination to take place is on the cutting board and you might consider two boards of different shapes or colors to avoid this.

This week's recipe for Stuffed Vine Leaves is a perfect companion to last week's Roasted Garlic and Shallot Red Bell Pepper Hummus...

Stuffed Vine leaves Ingredients:
1 Cup of rice
2 Cloves of garlic
1 Shallot
1/2 Fennel bulb
1/4 Cup of pine nuts
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
1/4 Teaspoon cumin
1/4 Teaspoon curry powder
1/2 Teaspoon sea salt
1/4 Teaspoon mint
1/2 Teaspoon dill
1 Jar of vine leaves
1 Lemon
*This recipe uses dried herbs, but you can substitute fresh and adjust the quantities to taste.

Stuffed Vine leaves Instructions:
--In a medium sized saucepan heat the olive oil and gently sauté the garlic and shallots after they have been finely chopped.
--Add the rice, the cumin and curry powder and sea salt.
--Boil the kettle as the mixture is lightly sautéing.
--Stir in the rice and then adding 2 cups of boiling water and lower the heat cook according to the instructions on the rice package, stirring occasionally.
--Heat a skillet and lightly toast the pine nuts over a medium heat – for about 5 minutes.
--Remove from the heat and allow them to cool on a chopping board before roughly chopping them into halves and quarters. Set aside.
--Finely chop the fennel into roughly ¼ inch pieces. Set aside.
--Fill a large skillet with water and bring to a boil.
--Take the vine leaves from the jar and blanch them one at a time in the boiling water for about 5 seconds each. Remove from the water vein side up and stack them on a plate. Set aside.
--When the rice is cooked stir in the pine nuts, fennel, mint and dill and taste the mixture for seasoning.
--To assemble the vine leaves begin with the top of the leaf pointing away from you, spoon one tablespoon of the rice mixture onto the middle, fold the center of the leaf up onto it, fold in the two sides snuggly and then roll the remainder of the leaf away from you.
--Repeat until you have used all the rice mixture arranging the stuffed vine leaves on a serving dish as you go.
--Squeeze the lemon over the vine leaves, drizzle with olive oil and enjoy!