Posted on Leave a comment

Picking and preserving nettle

We are fortunate to be gifted every spring with an abundance of stinging nettle (Urtica dioica). While it’s sting can be unpleasant, it teaches us to pay attention to our surroundings and that’s a good thing.  It also offers food, medicine and fiber if one knows how to properly harvest it.

Don’t kill all the nettles out of your garden, because you might benefit from this weed-like herb! Not to mention, it is the perfect habitat for a lot of pollinator and predatory insects that will keep your other plants healthy.

If you would like to use nettle for food or drink (tea, beer, wine, kombucha), then harvest them before they flower. Picking the tender tops (usually 4-6 leaves) is the best for food. For fiber, harvest the entire stem, clip it near the ground. If you want to use the seeds, harvest them when they are still green and use them fresh or dry them for later use.

When harvesting nettle, use scissors and wear long sleeves, long pants and work gloves. When looking at your nettle, you can see little hairs on the stem and leaves. These hairs are hollow and when they get under your skin, the tips break off and allow the acidic juice under your skin. Even the lightest touch will get you stung, so don’t forget your gloves.

If you would like to dry your nettle for tea, there are many options. The simplest way is to make a bouquet of nettles and hang it to a dry place with a string and let the blowing air do the job. Once it’s dry, it’s much safer to handle since it loses the ability to sting. However, the hairs are still there and can be irritating to the skin or give you a sliver if you’re not careful. You can tell they are ready to store in a glass jar when the stems snap. Make sure not to dry the nettle to the point where it loses its green colour and turn brown or black. It’s just fine to use fresh plant material to make tea, but a lot of people prefer the taste of dried nettle.

Freezing your nettle for use throughout the year is also possible. Just toss them into a food processor and process until finely chopped. Then, put them into freezer-safe containers and store until you need them. The mechanical action of the food processor will break the hollow hairs so they are unable to sting you. Some people recommend blanching the nettles (adding them to boiling water, plunging into ice water, then using). Many of the nutrients are lost to the water and thrown out when blanching. Experiment and you will find a way that works best for you and your family.

Stinging nettle can substitute for spinach in any cooked recipe (they lose their sting when cooked). You can add them to lasagna, make pasta with them, throw them in soups or stews, etc. Online recipes abound.

Posted on Leave a comment

Nettle in the Sushi

18 June International Sushi Day

International Sushi Day celebrates this potentially delicious meal and seeks to raise awareness about the truths and fictions surrounding it. Sushi had changed from a way to preserve fish to a new form of cuisine. But this wasn’t the last stage in the food’s evolution.

It was in between 1600 and 1800 AD in Japan, that the traditional form of sushi we know today came to exist. At this point it was unique to Japanese culture and consisted of fish and vegetables wrapped in rice, that was mixed with vinegar. This form of sushi had regional variations, but the basic idea is still one of the most popular forms of sushi today.

Making your own sushi is always fun, isn’t it? It is not going to taste anywhere near the standard of a proper sushi chef, but worth a try. Enjoy Sushi Day with your friends today!

Nettle and algae are a combination of elemental force. It is not common at all, using nettle in sushi, but sounds like a promising experiment.

Let’s see how to make an easy sushi inspired nettle-nori superfood…

Ingredients:

  • 200 g cashew
  • 300 ml water
  • a small bunch of parsley
  • 3 tbsp dried nettle seed
  • 1-2 tsp tamari
  • 1 tsp sea salt
  • 2 nori plate
  • 1-2 tsp tamari or wasabi to taste

Preparation:

  1. Soak cashew nuts in water for 2 to 3 hours, drain and rinse. Put them in a blender with parsley, nettle seeds, tamari and salt and process until creamy.
  2. Spread the mixture evenly on a nori plate. Place a second sheet of algae on top and press lightly (and evenly) with a board. Put the whole thing in the dehydrator and let it dry for 8 hours or overnight at 42 ° C.
  3. Then cut it even to rhombus shape and serve with tamari or wasabi as a sophisticated nettle superfood snack.
Posted on Leave a comment

An Underrated Superfood: Nettle Seed

Most people have tried nettle soup – a foraging classic – and nettle leaf tea is widely available. However, the use of nettle seed is still fairly uncommon, though it is the king of superfoods!

As the days lengthen, the female nettle produces little flowers quickly followed by green seeds, from the upper third of the plant. Over the summer the seeds ripen and thicken. They are harvested when still green before they start to dry out and turn brown. Nettle seed is crunchy and full of oil high in polyunsaturated fatty acids – linolenic, palmitic, oleic and stearic acids. Our bodies use linoleic and linolenic acids to make the important essential fatty acids omega 3 and omega 6.

A component of lecithin vital to liver function is found in nettle seed called choline. Choline is sometimes used to treat liver cirrhosis and hepatitis. Studies have also shown that it is indeed anti-inflammatory and will soothe colitis (inflammation of the colon).

Nettle seed tastes delicious. You can substitute poppy seed in crackers, oatcakes, bread with nettle seeds or you can sprinkle them with chopped nuts into salads. Mixing them into yoghurt, a smoothie or adding them to overnight oats is also worth trying. Don’t put nettle seeds into juices because they float and are hard to drink. Instead, mix with honey and make into protein snack bars. This is another delicious way of eating nettle seeds. Try seasoning your soup with nettle seeds by adding them on the top. 

Crush the seeds in a pestle and mortar, then infuse them in sunflower or olive oil at room temperature for a week. This green oil makes a nice healthy salad oil or can be used with essential oils as an anti-inflammatory liniment for arthritic joints.

They will give you an energy boost and help to put you in a cheerful mood. Nettle seeds also raise dopamine levels, which is a neurotransmitter that helps control the brain’s reward system and pleasure center. Dopamine facilitates learning, motivation and movement. 

For stimulating health benefits, take 1 to 2 spoons of fresh green or dried nettle seed a day (a standard heaped tablespoon is about 5 grams). Great help for invigoration of the body!

You can learn more about nettle seed here.