Nettle Soup (Recipe) - Foraging & Benefits of Making the Green Gold

The Nettle is your Friend!

It's that time of year when many allotment keepers in the northern hemisphere are fighting against the nettles, chopping them back and for those in know making a strong fertiliser by throwing them in a barrel of water.

But I'm telling you... Nettles are one of nature's superfoods, and not taking advantage of this iron-rich crop packed full of vitamins, minerals and protein is madness.

Nettles Contain:

Vitamins: Vitamins A, C
and K, as well as some B vitamins

Minerals: Calcium, iron,
magnesium, phosphorus, potassium and sodium

Fats: Linoleic acid,
linolenic acid, palmitic acid, stearic acid and oleic acid

Amino acids: All of the essential amino acids

Polyphenols: Kaempferol,
quercetin, caffeic acid, coumarins and other flavonoids

Pigments: Beta-carotene, lutein,
luteoxanthin and other carotenoids
_{Source: www.healthline.com}

Many of these nutrients act as antioxidants inside your body, helping to balance the immune system and control inflammatory responses.

The Nettle plant also has many reported health benefits, some fully studied and others more anecdotal or relics of the past. However, just because the Romans used Nettles as a medicine doesn't mean they were wrong... perhaps they were onto something.

The Roman's use of nettles to treat arthritis and lower back pain can certainly be backed by scientific studies although the legend of Roman soldiers using stinging nettles to ward off the cold by rubbing them into their skin sounds a little like soldierly bravado to me 😂

In addition to benefits relating to treating arthritis, nettles may also:

• Help reduce inflammation in the body (due to their antioxidative properties),
• Help treat enlarged prostate symptoms.
• May be effective in treating Hay Fever, although human studies have been inconclusive on the efficacy of Nettles for preventing Hay Fever, this falls very much into the category of ancient knowledge. For example, I was effectively treated for Hay Fever by taking local raw honey as a child. For 6 months running up to Spring, I was given a teaspoon of local Honey and come Spring all my symptoms magically lessened. The year after I was given the same, and Zero symptoms of Hay Fever. This is an ancient witches' remedy, based upon the idea that your body builds up a resistance to the pollen local to your area that is contained in the local raw honey. Placebo or not... it worked, perhaps Nettles act in a similar way.
• Have traditionally been used to help reduce high blood pressure.
• Aid in helping to control blood sugar - both animal and human studies have shown that Nettles contain compounds that mimic insulin.
• A possible aid to preventing cancers according to an www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov comparative study:

As compared to barley and wheat, it has a much higher level of tannin content, total polyphenol, antioxidant activity, carotenoids, and lower calorific value. Bioactivities of these functional components may play important role in arthritis, rheumatism, muscular paralysis, potentially cancer prevention, etc.

_{Source: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov}

Foraging for the Green Gold

For me, living in the city the allotment is a perfect hunting ground as parks may be sprayed by the city council, and the majority of the allotment people don't seem too bothered about using Nettles apart from throwing in buckets to make Nettle fertilizer. Generally, though, they are seen as a pest, and no one is bothered when they see me picking through a patch for the younger plants' tips 🌿

There are some 'common sense' rules that I follow when foraging for the green gold.

1. Make sure you're harvesting from a site you know where there has been no use of pesticides, weed spraying or that is too close to any major roads. This can be a little difficult, especially in the city, but my general rule is to only pick from a site I know such as the allotment... but I have a long term gut condition that makes me very careful. It may be possible to pick them from parks in overgrown areas, but I would say to be sure of no contamination picking them in a woodland area outside the city is the best bet.

2. Pick only the young plants and only plants that haven't flowered yet (see pictures above). As with so many other plants that can be used as foods, once the Nettle flowers much of the nutrients are leached from the leaves to go towards flower production.

3. Pick only the top part of the plant (this will allow the plant to keep growing). The top smaller leaves are more tender and contain more nutrients and less fibre. Nettles are chock full of fibre, even the small leaves are going to provide plenty of beneficial prebiotic properties.

4. Wear gloves, unless you like getting stung. Believe it or not there is a way you can pick the leaves freehand, without getting stung, but it relies on knowing the direction the stinging hairs are facing, and I haven't reached that level of foraging Jedi-mastery yet 🤣

Although I do understand why some people are a little intrepid, the humble nettle, once properly cooked doesn't sting. For those like myself who find the taste a little strong when blanched and eaten like spinach, there is always the humble Nettle Soup.

Nettle Soup - Green Goodness

I think nettles do have a strong distinctive flavour even once blanched/boiled, but when added to a soup with other vegetables it is basically like adding spinach to your soup except with added (nutritional) benefits and a slightly more earthy flavour.

For those who love the flavour of Nettles, my recipe below can easily be adapted to be made with half the amount of complimentary vegetables for a more nettle-ey hit.

Nettle/Vegetable Soup (Recipe)

The Nettles do need a little preparation.

INGREDIENTS

• Around 200g Nettle leaves (processed + washed)
• 2 Carrots (large)
• 2 Potatoes (Large)
• Small bunch of chives
• veg stock (400 Ml)
• Two cloves of Garlic (or one tsp of garlic salt)
• Black pepper
• Sea salt

Added Bonuses
It can be quite nice to experiment with the thick soup that is produced with this recipe, for example, I added some chipotle paste to 1/4 of it and gave it a spicy Mexican twist that really worked with some Crushed Tortilla Chips for texture.

• Crushed Tortilla Chips
• Chipotle Paste

INSTRUCTIONS

• Start by processing the Nettles - put on your gardening gloves (unless you want to get stung) and pick off the top 4 leaves (as I am pointing to in the picture below).

_{Note: in the picture above I've been lazy in my picking taking quite a lot of each plant but was sure to cut the stem where new leaves are shooting. I wanted to make some Nettle fertilizer for the back garden so the rest did not go to waste.}

• Place the tender smaller leaves in a bowl or straight into a large colander as you pick them, ensuring to only pick leaves with no stem attached as they are too fibrous.

• When you've finished, wash the Nettle leaves thoroughly turning them with a large spoon (remember they'll still sting until cooked) to remove any small insects etc.

• Chop potatoes and carrots and add to a large saucepan, then add your veg stock, bring to the boil and simmer for 10 minutes.

• Meanwhile, chop the chives.

• After ten minutes add the chives, give the mixture a stir and then add the nettles and all seasoning (also either 2 cloves of peeled garlic or a teaspoon of garlic salt). I found at this point I also needed to add about another cup full of boiling water from the kettle until the whole mixture was just covered in liquid.

• Bring to the boil, and then cover and lower the heat to simmer for another 10 minutes.

• Leave the mixture in the pan for a few hours to cool before blitzing it in a liquidizer until smooth and thick. You should end up with about 1 litre which is around 4 servings.

• This mixture can be frozen in containers (and kept for months), or refrigerated and will be good for 3-4 days.

• This is the point where I go off the vegan route myself, and have a large bowl served hot with a slice of homemade bread with far too much butter, and added a swirl of quality olive oil. With all that green goodness why not indulge yourself.
  
  If you're vegan you could add some crushed toasted nuts, or try the chipotle with tortilla chips I mentioned at the beginning of the recipe.

I hope I have encouraged some readers out there to give the Nettle a try, I ate a bowl of green gold yesterday and another for lunch today and am still alive 😉

Thanks for reading 🌿

Sources:

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/stinging-nettle#TOC_TITLE_HDR_7

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21806658/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20015358/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27585814/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24273930/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4708629/#:~:text=USDA%20data%20showed%20the%20Nettle,minerals%20among%20the%20plant%20foods.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2210803312000978

All media in this post was created by me using a combination of GIMP photo editing software and canva.com. If you have enjoyed this blog recipe, please do check out my home page @raj808. Thanks for reading.

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