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Down by the Nettles Patch

Since the area I play in in regards to plants and medicine is lifestyle medicine, or the medicine we take in everyday, I thought it would be fun to explore a plant a day for the next week as food. Just normal everyday wild plants in our meals and simple ways to prepare them.....

What I love most about spring is how fresh, vibrant and truly yummy the plants are- right now is really the time to be eating wild....most everything is tender and less bitter in the spring, and many of the green shoots are perfect for eating at this time- such as our nettles patch.

Stinging nettle, Urtica dioica, is a nutritional powerhouse. It's extremely high in calcium, magnesium, trace minerals and chlorophyll- it contains generous amounts of B vitamins, protein and iron. It helps create healthy shiny hair, nourishes the skin, and puts some deep love on your adrenals.... this plant offers so much in the way of nourishment and support if you invite it into your everyday life.

I drink nettles infusions regularly, a full dry ounce in a mason jar with boiling water poured over top and left to sit overnight. This sustains me, and nourishes me deeply. I do not take any vitamins or supplements, preferring instead to glean my nutrition from the wild world around me. Infusions are a big part of that.

But I also really love nettles for dinner. Or breakfast. Or lunch. If you are new to wild foods, think a more textured spinach, chewy and mild. Cooking the nettles deactivates the sting.

Tonight I did a saute in a pan with onions, garlic, and lots of butter. While that was frying, I roasted a pan of cauliflower that was marinated in tamari and a splash of mulberry infused balsamic vinegar, added some wild salmon pieces for the last fifteen minutes of cooking......then piled little mountains of buttered nettle, nesting the salmon on top, roasted cauliflower surrounding and toasted sesame seeds sprinkled over the whole thing. IT WAS SO GOOD.

Even the boys were like- yummy mom :mmmm:

And faster than a Rachel Ray thirty minute meal too. Humph.

If you have a lot of stinging nettle like I do, you can dry it for tea, or use the dried sprinkles with seeds and spices for a sort of seasoning for salads.

You can make nettle soup, it goes really well with cream.... or saute it up with mushrooms and layer it in phyllo dough with fresh goats ricotta, for a hearty meal.....you can really use nettle anywhere you need a nice mild cooked green. Its very versatile.

My favorite energy breakfast in the winter is a bag of nettles fried with onion, warmed up with a little miso gravy and a runny egg perched over the top of the pile, with just a sprinkle of goat feta.

Every summer, when the greens are running strong, I put up like, seriously, over a hundred sandwich size bags of greens in the freezer, all different kinds.

I cook them up and just put them in bags to dole out all the winter long in soups, stews, egg pies, and other dishes. Greens are sooooo important for vibrant health, and this makes it really easy to eat your greens, all you have to do is pull out a bag and warm them. And the more they are cooked the better the minerals contained within are absorbed. Remember how granny cooked them? Long and slow and low with a pc of fatback thrown in for good measure. Always eat your greens dressed lavishly in fat for maximum nutrition....