food is getting expensive and we have tons of these in our yard. what are they good with? any recipes? I was going to cook some in a potato soup with some of the wild chives that are all over the place as well.
There's an old Irish folk song that goes: "She fed them on potatoes and a soup made out of nettles and a lump of hairy bacon that she boiled up in a kettle" I have an Irish Nettle Soup recipe but it's not vegan. I used to bring a basket of nettles home from the Sacred Isle where we held Beltaine but we haven't held it there in two years.
I was planning on making my kale and potato soup, only with the nettles instead of kale, and I have delicious wild chives to put in it, too. I'm not vegan, I'm lacto-ovo. There's milk in the potato soup, although it can be made without it. Tonight's experiment is white beans and wild greens (or maybe nettles) sauteed with garlic, basil and red pepper over polenta, pasta or rice, depending on what I feel like cooking. I might try a nettle quiche sooner or later too. We live in a swamp, so we've got enough nettles to last all summer. Do they freeze well? I might freeze them like spinach, to stuff in winter squash in the fall and winter. I'm also looking for dishes to make with cleavers. I've heard it's good in soups, but don't know what else to do with it, and have no recipes. We do have lots and lots of it, though.
Yeah for nettles ! i have them every day, among other greens that grow here right at my feet. But sometimes we gotta be pioneers also when it comes to going without recipe book. I bet there's more interesting stuff than just cleaver (what's that ?) and nettles in your jungle. Enjoy it !
Oh yeah, there's wild lettuce, lamb's quarters, dock, and sow thistle. I missed the garlic mustard, it went into flower while I was still in the PTSD-slump. I've got a good drying room in the back of my cottage where the furnace is, and it's full of medicinals and tea herbs now: motherwort, mugwort, catnip, horsetail, soapwort, all-heal, and of course, cleavers and nettle. I'm planning on making a salve of plantain, ground ivy and all-heal. The horsetail, soapwort, and nettle are going into dread soap. When I can rustle up an old window screen I can dry raspberry leaves, briar leaves, honeysuckle, and red clover blossoms. But the nettle and the cleavers we have lots of, and I'm trying to figure out what to do with it, so I thought I'd look for recipes until I got used to its flavor. Right now I'm not in a position to do too much experimenting, still getting out of the blahs since the fire. Nettle and rice veggie burgers with sesame-soy dressing. That's another one I have to try. Cleavers is often thought more of a medicinal plant, but I've heard it's good in soups. I'd like to see a few recipes before experimenting, even if I don't follow them, so I have a feel for its flavor before risking dinner on an adventure. Cleavers has tiny leaves radiating around a long stem. It's stringy and is growing all over the place in the yard. I'm harvesting the rest of it before I mow. It's called cleavers because it's sticky, and will "cleave" to stuff, like your hand or pantleg. It's mainly used medicinally as a diuretic.
Some of your plants I know, some I don't. Is cleaver the one who produces hitchhikers ? Nettles - usually I just cut + boil them in little water together with chili, sometimes basil leaves or lovage - if at hand I add a cup of white cheese ('quark') and/or a spoonful of grated cheese + black pepper + tiny bit of salt - sometimes combining it with rice or millet or noodles or just sponge bread. Hm ... maybe not a real gourmet's menu ! Btw the older nettle stalks, once upon a time, were used for cloth making.
I keep doing that don't I? I guess once the seed is planted in my head... Anyway, for your dining pleasure. This is what I make, don't remember where I got it. 1 basket of nettles (I use an old peck full to the brim) 2 medium sized potatoes, diced 2 medium onions, roughly chopped 2 stick celery, sliced into small pieces (optional) 2 cups veggie stock 1 cups milk 1/4 stick of butter Salt and pepper Don gloves or you'll really wish you had. Wash the nettles in cold water and drain. Pat dry with a clean towel. Melt the butter in a saucepan over a medium temperature and add the onions, nettles and potato. Stir to coat the with the butter and 'sweat' them in the saucepan for about 5 minutes. The nettles should be well wilted. Pour the stock and the milk into the saucepan, bring to the boil then reduce the heat and simmer for about 15-20 minutes. Pour into blender and liquify for 15-20 seconds. Season with salt and pepper. Great with a crusty sourdough on the side.
im also blessed (plagued?) by nettles bloody everywhere, along with other swamp plants. i tried some steamed as a side dish and they were pretty good. the young stalks were even better than the leaves. i dry them to use in herbal tea as well. thanks for the recipe, zoomie im gonna have to try that. i really fail at cooking, but i love food so i gotta learn sometime lol.
Failure is truly the only way to learn. I poisoned people many times before they learned that "Here, taste this" really meant "Run. Run fast, run now, just run".
I made creamed nettles on sprouted wheat toast. Cooking the nettles in the white sauce loses the sting and preserves the nutrients. This was so-o-o-o good! maybe 2 T butter? small handful whole wheat flour didn't measure the nettle tops - enough to fill a small saucepan several wild chives (onion grass, almost as plentiful as the nettles) saute everything in the butter until the nettles start to cook down and the flour and butter make a roux pour in a cup of milk, maybe 1/3 cup grated parmesan, and a pinch nutmeg Oh man that was tasty. Make a double batch and stir half into some cooked rice with whatever leftover veggies you have and top with more cheese and bread crumbs. Bake until bubbly for a great casserole. The nettles were so good with the white beans, garlic, basil, crushed red pepper, olive oil and parmesan. Also tried cheese grits with nettle, tomato, onion grass and garlic. Had to note the irony of steaming the nettles to take the sting out and then dumping hot sauce on the finished dish to put it back!
It's commonly known that nettles make a great spinach. I look forward to nettle lasagne. However, not everybody knows that some people use them as a sex aid. Bondage, pain that sort of thing. Each to their own but I think I'll give that a miss for the time being.
