(Photo above is of nettles emerging in the spring.)
You would be hard-pressed to come up with a plant with as much medicinal and nutritional power– as well as being a stellar textile– as Stinging Nettles. This is the time of year to harvest the leaves of these natural wonders because they are best while the young plants are still under six inches tall.
Once you dry or blanch the nettles the stings are disarmed. You are left with a nutritious green that can be substituted for cooked spinach in your culinary creations. For this, I have been inspired by the Nebraska-based author of Wild Seasons, Kay Young, who has spread the good word about Stinging Nettles. In non-pandemic years our friend Allison Krohn hosts Nettle Nosh. The nettlehead’s imaginations go wild creating food with Stinging Nettles. Some of the creations we have enjoyed are nettle ice cream, nettle pesto served with feta, stir fries, nettle chips made like kale chips, a variation of zamarud pilau and saag paneer, nettle marinated beef, nettle artichoke dip, nettle bread, nettle noodles and no wild edible pot luck is complete without Kay’s potato and nettle casserole. The bonus is that afterwards there is a reprieve from joint pain. The dried or frozen greens reconstitute nicely making them ideal for winter cooking. Maggie Pleskac, the high priestess of vegetarian cooking, uses nettles in her soup base. Both Euell Gibbons and Susun Weed have recipes for nettle beer in their books. For me a warm cup of nettle tea seems to make everything right again.
Now put on your gloves and stock your freezer with Stinging Nettles. Note~save the water after you blanch your nettles, as the nettle infused water is a primo fertilizer for your plants. How do you eat Stinging Nettles?
