When You Can’t Beat Them, Eat Them
By Tanya Sousa
I was eleven years-old when it happened. While exploring a stream bed, I was viciously attacked, apparently, by apparently invisible bees. My leg stung then burned. The feeling was relentless and wouldn’t feel soothed even when I plunged into the cold water. I ran the half mile home and told my mother what happened. Instead of buying into my theory of invisible bees, she looked a bit surprised and, dare I think it, pleased. “Nettles!” She said.
She wasn’t pleased because I was hurting of course, but she had spent formative years during World War II in Germany with her grandmother who raised and foraged a good portion of her own food. Oma knew things about plants and mushrooms. I don’t remember my mother gathering and eating nettles, and she didn’t tell me then you could make a meal out of the unfriendly plant, but the look on her face that day makes me darned sure her grandmother must have known.
Later in life, I settled in North Troy, Vermont with a man my German great-grandmother would have loved. We grow a lot of our own food and put it by. We forage. Still, when one of Cort’s sisters was helping us weed some overgrown garden areas and clutched her hand, crying with pain from trying to pull what was clearly a nettle plant, we put a call out for anyone who might want to take some nettles FREE! “I’ve heard some people use these for medicine,” I wrote on my social media post. There were no takers. We donned gloves and long sleeves and pulled them out, and for two years they simply grew back with vigor.
I don’t recall when I learned how you could eat them, but the information crossed my path. I watched some videos and read articles on the topic. The day came that a gent from the UK shared a social media post in a cooking group I’d joined. He described “nettle Soup” and praised it to the heavens. After a bit of begging, he shared the recipe. We tried it, and it was the beginning of a beautiful relationship with an unlikely plant.
I now go out every day I can in May and early June and gather nettles that we once thought should be gone. I dry the leaves for nettle tea. I make batches upon batches of luscious nettle soup and eat some and freeze even more for the upcoming later summer, fall and winter. I make nettle pesto in the same fashion. The other night we made a pesto pizza with the nettle pesto as the base. You can use these darlings in any way you use kale or spinach, and they are absolutely packed with goodness – even being touted as one of the “superfoods”.
Stinging nettles are high in fiber, have high density of vitamins and minerals in the young leaves, and have powerful antioxidant properties. They are a natural antihistamine and have been used for prostate health and support. Indigenous cultures have gathered and used nettles longer than we have record. The roots, seeds, stems – they are all edible and useful. I use the leaves and young stems in soups, pestos and quick breads. The seeds are packed with nutrients and can offer an energy boost. We sprinkle those on bagels or in cereals or put them in smoothies. You need very few of those seeds. The stems can be used to make rope, cloth and fishing net, although I haven’t tried anything like that. I’m sure you’re wondering just as I did: Who on planet Earth found this stinging plant and first thought, “hey! I think I’ll eat that!” We’ll never know, but that free food is everywhere, good for us, and I’m glad they did.
There are details about harvesting and eating nettles that are good to know – Wear gloves and long sleeves and pants. Cut the tops and gather them in May and June until they begin to flower. The leaves aren’t fit for eating after the plant flowers because they become high in cystolith crystals that can irritate your urinary tract and cause an unwanted laxative effect. Leave plenty for wildlife too! They’re important for the lifecycle of certain moths and insects we do need in the ecosystem.
Another question I’m sure you have is how do you eat such a porcupine-like green? The wonderful news is that the stinging barbs are conquered by drying or blanching. The moment those leaves hit hot water and boil, they are tame as your garden-variety spinach.
As with any foraged item, you should get plenty of information before harvesting, cooking and eating. There are YouTube videos, university and agency articles and blog posts about stinging nettles. For instance, it’s good to know that you shouldn’t indulge if you are pregnant or nursing, and that 1-2 cups of nettle tea a day is enough (too much of a good thing is a truism for just about everything). Do your research and go forth and harvest! After all, these plants are nearly impossible to vanquish. If you can’t beat them, eat them!
NETTLE SOUP
1/2 a carrier-bagful of nettles, tops or young leaves
1 large or 2 medium onions, finely sliced
1 large carrot, chopped
1 large clove of garlic, crushed (optional)
1 litre/2 pints good chicken, fish or vegetable stock
1 medium cooked potato, diced, or 2 tablespoons cooked rice, or 2 rice cakes
salt and freshly ground black pepper pinch nutmeg (optional)
2 tablespoons thick cream or crème fraîche
• Pick over and thoroughly wash the nettles. Discard only the tougher stalks as the soup will be liquified.
• Melt the butter in a large pan and sweat the onion, carrot and garlic until soft but not brown.
• Add the stock and pile in the nettles. If you are using rice or potato to thicken the soup, and you do not have any already cooked, you could add them at this stage. (dice the potato).
• Bring to the boil and simmer until the rice or potatoes are cooked and the nettles tender. Season with salt and pepper, and nutmeg if you wish.
• Liquidize the soup in a blender (you will probably have to do it in 2 batches). Return to a clean bowl (if serving cold) or pan (if serving hot), stir in the cream or crème fraîche and check seasoning.
To serve cold: On warm spring or early summer days I love to serve this soup cold. If you have plenty of time to chill the soup before serving, simply leave it out to cool then transfer to the fridge for a couple hours before serving. For accelerated cooling, fill a large mixing basin or saucepan with ice cubes and water and place the bowl of soup in the iced water. Stir to chill, and add more ice cubes if the first batch melts. Stir well just before serving and ladle the soup out into bowls. Garnish each with a swirl of cream and a sprinkling of chopped chives and wild chervil.
To serve hot: Reheat the soup after liquidizing but do not reboil. Garnish with a swirl of cream and chopped herbs.
Note: Nettle and other green soups freeze extremely well.