So here's the thing about foraging with kids. They pull up a lot more than just the tender top leaves of the little nettle plants. And since we did most of our foraging in the forest, much of the forest floor ended up in our gatherings.
I didn't have any rubber gloves here that had not been in toilets so I just used tongs to swish the leaves and then boiled the whole mass together with the idea to pick off the leaves when they would no longer sting. It wasn't a very successful process and I will definitely get gloves to work with these again in the future. Picking off the leaves ahead and then sauteing them with the leeks would have been better.
Ooops!
A small sampling of what was not nettles that was also boiled.
Then I picked off the leaves and left the stems behind.
The recipe from Festivals, Family and Food had an error in it, which is the first I've found. I do love this book and have used it often for those that were asking. I used it often when teaching preschool but there's plenty in it still for my girls now at 7 and 9 since they can now do many of the things in it themselves. It has a lot of recipes, plus little crafty projects that are really adorable as well as songs (mostly for under 7) and stories (that mine still like.) But this particular recipe said to 'boil the nettles in no more water than was used to wash them.' Huh? If I'm not mistaken- that's steaming at best, right? Then it said to saute that with onion. Well, clearly that was not going to work for me since I had whole bushes with roots- so I just boiled the nettles and went with a basic veggie soup and just added the nettles chopped as finely as I could with a knife. Most recipes call for a blended soup and we don't have one of those here. I will definitely try this one again when at home where I do have my lovely immersion blender. Boiling the nettles and throwing out the water truly pained me since all the green washed down the sink. It still had dirt and leaves and such in it so I didn't want to keep it for tea, but will make the tea in the future. Its all in having the right tools- gloves! next time... Check out this recipe of nettle soup and the color! I will definitely be making this again.
The little bits of floaty green stuff at the top are the nettles and they definitely imparted a particular flavor to the soup that was new for all of us. Everyone like it though- all 5 kids and myself. My sis in law is still first trimester preggers so wasn't thrilled with it.
We paired it with a rustic potato bread that was excellent.
The soup was a success.
We will definitely be using nettles again in many forms. I really enjoyed the taste of it and am eager to try the nettle risotto, which sounds fabulous. I am all over these recipes for the future! Can't wait to try nettle pesto, nettle lasagna, ravioli... I really preferred the taste of nettles to spinach and am thrilled to have found a new green I love. I O.D.-ed on swiss chard during my pregnancies when I tried to eat it at least every other day and I don't think have eaten it since. And then it seems I just get into that spinach rut since other green are often quite bitter and the kids aren't into them. Since nettle is an herb it has a fresh taste to it but not as pungent as basil. Can't wait to try it sauted rather than boiled.
The part I found most enjoyable about this experience was having the kids participate in this transformational process of picking something so unpleasant and having it transformed into something that becomes nourishing and wholesome to our own bodies. I love the metaphor of taking something that cannot even be touched, is harmful and hurtful into something delicious, warm and nourishing. There are so many things in this world that that can pertain to. I think of personal relationships that when we keep them at a distance they can appear very hurtful, yet when we pull that person closer and take them into our inner worlds and love them, that relationship can be transformed into something very nourishing for the soul. I love the quote form A Course in Miracles that says, "The holiest place on earth is where an ancient hatred has turned into a present love." This process of picking nettles, cooking them and then eating them was a perfect symbol of that transformation to me. And I thought a lovely seasonal activity around Easter when transformation is a theme I like having around in tangible form.
