Ah dolmas, one of the many quintessential Mediterranean/Middle Eastern foods that's so easily vegan friendly! For so long I consistently walked past this canned version at Trader Joe's. With so many canned foods that are just awful, can you blame me for being wary? Well I finally got brave enough to pick up a can, were they as terrible as I anticipated? Read on to find out!
Buying. This should go without saying, but you find these at Trader Joe's, though I'm sure you can find third party sellers online. If you don't have a Trader Joe's nearby, I suggest finding a friend who does live near one to buy some for you. I don't remember exactly how much I paid for these, but a year old article on Trader Joe's website has them priced at $2.49.
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| Bottom of the can |
Nutrition. It's a grape leaf stuffed with white rice and drowning in oil, dolmas simply are not a healthy treat. Ok, they might be decent if it wasn't for all the oil, but then they wouldn't be nearly as decadent. Fat content aside, the sodium content of these dolmas is a bit concerning as well. I like how simple the ingredients are, but I would still ultimately treat them as junk food.
Tasting. I have to admit, I was pleasantly surprised by these dolmas! The have a good flavor that's well seasoned and a bit tangy (as dolmas should be!), and the texture was good too - the grape leaves held together well and the rice was soft without being mushy. I do think they could've used a little something extra, perhaps being made with olive oil instead of soybean, or maybe some added parsley or chickpeas? Though they were good despite coming out of a can, they still have nothing on fresh dolmas! I think my only real complaint about these is that they are a bit small.
Bottom Line. I liked them, if I've got a craving for dolmas and I don't feel like going downtown to my favorite Lebanese restaurant, I would definitely buy them again. If you've never had dolmas before, these are worth a try! They would also make a great addition to an appetizer platter.
Trader Joe's does have these marked as vegan for shopping convenience!
i love these so much i think anyone who likes pretty much everything wll like these
ReplyDeleteThey aren't junk food. The problem is the TYPE of oil used. If it's not EVOO it's gotta go, I like to say. :)
ReplyDeleteYou don't eat all the oil the food is "drowning in" for one. And two, this is in a sense a "lathera" dish. You can read about them on the Olive Tomato food blog. They are extremely healthy dishes.
And yeah, the salt content is too much but I have seen some cans with less.
ReplyDelete