Tag: 2021_October

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Nettle Pasta

25 October World Pasta Day

Pasta is one of the world’s most favorite foods! We celebrate World Pasta Day today. The goal of this day is to call attention not just to the product of pasta, but to new, healthy, and creative ways to enjoy a pasta meal. 

The world has enjoyed this dish since the first century A.D. Pasta are divided into two main categories: dried (pasta secca) and fresh (pasta fresca). Most dried pasta is produced commercially by machines and fresh pasta is traditionally produced by hand.

Dried pasta surged in popularity during the 14th and 15th centuries — mainly for its easy storage. This allowed people to bring pasta along on ships when exploring the New World. One of the first pasta factories of Europe was established in Pest, Hungary in 1859, which worked with steam machines.

Fresh stinging nettle is one of our most nutritious wild foods and makes a great cooked green, and it’s also a perfect addition to fresh hand-made pasta. Since it keeps its bright green color after cooking, it makes a beautiful and healthful pasta.

Let’s celebrate World Pasta Day with this home-made nettle pasta!

Ingredients:

  • 3 cups of fresh nettle leaves or 1 cup of nettle leaf powder
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 and a half cup all-purpose flour
  • A pinch of sea salt

Preparation:

  1. If you use freshly picked nettle, blanch them for 3 minutes, rinse in cold water and squeeze out as much liquid as possible.
  2. Puree egg and nettle (blanched or powder) to a smooth consistency. 
  3. Add flour and salt and mix to combine. It shouldn’t be sticky but should hold together when pinched. Knowing when the consistency is right is something that takes practice.
  4. Gather into a ball, turn out onto a floured surface and knead for a few minutes until smooth and elastic.
  5. Wrap in plastic wrap and let rest for half an hour in the fridge. Roll out and cut whatever pasta shape you prefer. You can do it with a pasta machine or a sharp chef’s knife.
  6. When ready to use, boil in salted water for 2 to 3 minutes or until al dente. Toss with olive oil or butter to prevent sticking.
  7. Add your favourite pasta sauce. Green herbs, garlic and spices work well with olive oil and cheese to nettle pasta.

Enjoy!

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Nettle for menopause

18th October  World Menopause Day

The World Health Organisation (WHO) and the International Menopause Society designated  18th October as World Menopause Day. The purpose of today is to raise awareness of menopause and chronic diseases that affect women after menopause.

It’s a normal, natural part of the aging process, yet many women are still worried about going through this change. Symptoms include irregular periods, hot flashes, sleep disturbances, vaginal dryness, breast tenderness, loss of libido and mood swings. These are all the results of unevenly changing levels of hormones in the body. Both high and low levels of estrogen can cause unbearable migraines in women. Hormonal changes after menopause may bring changes in bone density too.

But there are also things to celebrate in menopause: no more periods, PMS, or worrying about unwanted pregnancies. The aim is to see this time from a perspective of new possibilities: amazing personal growth, self-awareness, greater freedom and excitement.

Healers and wise women consider stinging nettle (Urtica dioica) a reliable friend, and one of the best herbs for menopause and hormonal health. Nettle infusion strengthens the adrenals, eases anxiety, increases energy, helps prevent night sweats, builds blood, protects bones and heart. Eating cooked nettle is another excellent way to gather its benefits.

The first craft beer brewed specifically for menopausal women has been developed in New Hampshire. The beer Libeeration combines Saphir hops with herbs that herbalists claim help ease symptoms associated with hormonal shifts. The beer contains nettle, motherwort, lemon balm, chamomile, mugwort, rose, chickweed and damiana. The result is a gruit style ale that’s golden straw in color with fruity, spicy, earthy flavors. And it weighs in at more than 6 percent ABV.

Let’s raise our glasses to women!

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Nettle soup for cool evenings

It’s autumn already. Days shorten and the temperature lowers day by day. We can still find some fresh nettle in the garden or in the wild to cook something delicious and nutritious to strengthen our immune system for the winter. If all the nettle had gone to sleep by this time, we can still use dried or frozen nettle we preserved during the growing season.

Let’s cook a heartwarming soup!

Ingredients:

  • 150 g of fresh/frozen nettle leaves rinsed or 2 cups dried leaves soaked in water for a few hours
  • 20 g of ginger finely chopped
  • 1 fennel root cut in pieces
  • 1 big sweet potato cut in pieces
  • 1 onion chopped in small pieces
  • ½ leek chopped in slices
  • 1 garlic clove finely chopped
  • 1 green apple cut in pieces
  • few drops of olive oil
  • salt/pepper to taste

Preparation:

Saute the ginger, onion, leek and garlic in a few drops of olive oil until they release their pleasant smell. Add the rest of the veggies and the nettle. Stir and cover with water, then bring to boil. When your ingredients are cooked, remove from fire and blend until you have a creamy texture.

Serving suggestions:

Add some spicy olive oil and a few drops of lemon to your plate. You can grill small pieces of Pleurotus mushrooms and add them to your soup as a crispy surprise. Alternatively, you can roast some pine nuts, or sunflower seeds/pumpkin seeds, or make some crouton from your old bread.

Bon appetit!

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Nettle in the Egg

8th October 2021 World Egg Day

World Egg Day is an annual international campaign every second Friday in October that promotes the nutritional benefits of eggs in our diet and honors the farmers who care for the poultry which supply them. For centuries, eggs have played a major role in feeding families around the globe. Eggs are one of nature’s highest quality sources of protein, and indeed contain many of the key ingredients for life. The proteins contained within eggs are highly important in the development of the brain and muscles, have a key role to play in disease prevention and contribute to general well-being.

The importance of nettle in the diet of poultry

Stinging nettle (Urtica dioica), as a superfood, is not only beneficial for humans, but birds too. Filled with essential nutrients and vitamins, as well as dietary fiber, it promotes health and a balanced diet for animals. 

Did you know that nettle addition was found to substantially increase broiler skin yellowness? Chicken with yellow skin is often seen as a sign of healthy food and good quality chicken. Nettle is good for the eggs too. The widely used curcumin is not the only option for farmers to add in chicken food to promote a better color for skin and egg yolk. Wild nettle is found everywhere and is cheaper than curcumin.

Nettle supplementation increases the egg quality besides strengthening the immune system of laying hens. Yolk color is an important quality trait of eggs. Natural pigment sources are preferred by consumers. Nettle and egg are the two main essential gifts from nature.

Have you ever made a nettle omelette? This recipe is worth trying 🙂

Ingredients for the filling:

  • Fresh nettle tops, a large colander filled to the brim or dried nettle leaves soaked in water for a few hours
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 onion, halved and cut in rings
  • Salt and pepper

Roughly chop the nettles. Heat the oil in a large pan. Add the onion and let cook till it becomes translucent. Add the nettle tops, stir and cover with a lid. Cook until the nettles are wilted, season with salt and pepper and set aside.

Ingredients for the omelet per person:

  • Olive oil for frying
  • 2 -3 eggs
  • Salt and pepper
  • finely grated parmesan cheese

Beat the eggs with a fork in a bowl. Season the eggs with salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a frying pan. Pour in the eggs and as the omelet begins to cook, use a spatula to draw the eggs from the side to the middle and allow the uncooked eggs to run beneath. Repeat this a few times. Sprinkle the parmesan on top and let the omelet cook till just set but still soft. Put a generous helping of the nettles on one half of the omelet and fold it over. Let the omelet slide on a plate.

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Nettle for Animals

4th October World Animal Day

Today is World Animal Day when we celebrate animal life in all its forms as well as humankind’s relationship with the animal kingdom. 4th October was chosen because it is the Feast Day of St Francis of Assisi – a saint well known for his love of animals -, however the day is not restricted to any particular religion.

Nettle as animal forage

The health benefits of stinging nettle (Urtica dioica) are well known. It’s a traditionally used herb that contains tons of minerals, vitamins, and other nutrients. Nettle is one of the most studied herbs nowadays considered to be a superfood. But it is not only good for human healing and consumption.  Nettle is an amazing nutritious ingredient of animal forage.

No quadruped except the donkey can touch fresh nettle, on account of its stinging power, but if you cut the nettle and allow it to become wilted, it loses its sting and livestock love to eat it. It is well known that when dried and made into hay, the stinginess is gone, cows can relish it and give more milk than when fed on hay alone. In Sweden and Russia, nettle has sometimes been cultivated as a fodder plant, being mown several times a year, and given to dairy cows.

Nettle was much used as a substitute for fodder during the war, and instructions for its use were laid down by German military authorities. It was found that horses that had become thin and suffered from digestive troubles benefited from the use of nettle leaves. In the past, horse traders would feed nettle seed to horses a few weeks before selling them in Holland, and also in Egypt. Horse-dealers mixed the seeds of nettle with oats in order to give the animals a silky shiny coat. Victor Hugo in Les Miserables confirmed that “the seed of the nettle mingled with fodder imparts a gloss to the coats of animals” and the seeds were once used to fatten up fowl.

Nettle is also great for poultry. Dried and powdered finely and put into the food, it increases egg production and is healthy and fattening. Turkeys, as well as ordinary poultry, thrive on nettle chopped small and mixed with their food.

Nettle for pets

For your dog and cat, make a powder from dried herb and add to the pet’s food or make treats occasionally for boosted nutrition, shiny coat, kidney support and prevent rheumatic conditions. Make a nourishing herbal infusion of nettle leaf and leave it in the bowl for the pet to drink. Always supply an additional bowl of regular water for your friend as well. Animals will use their keen instincts to choose if they need the nettle.