To most people, stinging nettles are a painful nuisance. To others like me, they make a tasty dish. They also have many other uses, but that's not the topic of today's post.
So, how do we get from a prickly stinging plant to something we eat.
Stinging nettles are one of the first plants to grow again after Winter and one of the last to die off, thus making them a valuable and reasonably constant food source.
It is usually best to harvest them while they are young, because the stems quickly toughen up and become quite fibrous. The fibre is one of the things the plants can be used for.
What ever the age of the plant, it is usually best to harvest the outer shoots that are more tender.
Depending upon how skilful or sensitive you are, you may or may not need gloves to harvest the nettles. I either use my bare hands, being careful of the direction grasp the plant, or will use scissors to cut and then gently lift the leaves into a bag.
Once you get the nettles back to the kitchen, the easiest method of disarming the sting, is to let them sit in a bowl of warm water. You can drink the water afterwards for it's curative properties.
Once the nettles have been treated for stings, you can then cook with the nettles as you would spinach.
A surprising fact is the nettles have a higher iron content than spinach and many more minerals.
For this meal, I heated a pan with olive oil, added garlic, onions and sunflower seeds. Once the onions were browned, I then added a generous portion of mushrooms and some sliced carrot.
You can add some spices if you wish, but I find the flavours on their own delicious.
The spinach is added lastly and not cooked too long. It should still look green and not turn black. Once they are sautéed, everything can be served with steamed rice.
Again, according to your tastes, you may also serve it with a splash of soya sauce.
Enoy!
