Wild Edible Recipes:
Enjoy a Sexy 3-Course Meal with Stinging Nettles
by Heather Gardner
There’s nothing like a wander in the wild and a forage in the forest with a loved one, to get your appetite ready for a 3 course meal á deux. Nettles are free, grow abundantly in many regions and are the prince of the wild edible plants.
Nourishing nettles are nutritional powerhouses, beautifying, detoxing and building our bodies. A nifty nibble that keeps us fit and frisky and limber of limb. So take a hike with a loved one to gather a big bag of stinging nettles, when you get back you can whip up a raw feast in no time to nourish and delight.
Raw Nettle Soup
Makes 2-3 servings
Ingredients:
- 2 handfuls of nettle tops
- 1 avocado
- 1 green apple
- 1 cucumber
- 1-2 stalks celery/ fresh fennel
- 1 spring onion
- Juice of 1 lime
- Fresh mint leaves, or other fresh herb
- Pinch of sea salt, seagreens, kelp powder & chili or cayenne powder
- 1-3 cups chilled or warm water, herbal infusion such as mint and/or nettle or nut or seed milk.
Directions:
Put all the ingredients in the blender and add 1 cup of liquid.
Blend until creamy.
Add more water as needed until the consistency is, as you want.
Serve topped with sprouts and some flax crackers!
Wild Nettle Pesto
Ingredients:
1 handful nettle leaves- 1 handful basil leaves or other green (more nettle, rocket, spinach, parsley)
- 1 cup soaked pumpkin seeds
- 1 cup shelled hemp seeds, walnuts or hazelnuts
- ½ a lemon juiced
- 1-3 cloves of garlic chopped
- 1 tsp sea salt
- ½ tsp Seagreens and kelp powder
- ½ – 1 cup of organic cold pressed olive and hemp oils
Directions:
Place everything in your food processor (in 2 batches if it’s a small machine).
Blend until nice and smooth but with a nice crunch.
Be ready to add more oil as required to make a nice smooth consistency and to help the blades turn.
Use whatever ingredients you prefer or have on hand and change the quantities if you like. Pesto is pretty easy to make out of anything!
Pack the pesto into glass jars leaving a little space at the top. Pour olive oil into this space to seal, this stops it from going mouldy. Store in the fridge.
Pesto is best used within a few days for flavour, but will keep if the oil seal has been done properly.
Nettle Pesto Rawfredo
Makes 2-3 servings
Ingredients:
2-4 courgettes- 1 cup of cashews, peeled almonds, shelled hemp or sunflower seeds
- 1 Tsp nettle infused cider vinegar
- 1 tsp of nutritional yeast (optional)
- ½ – 1 cup water
- Pinch of salt
Directions:
Spiralize or peel the courgettes into spaghetti or strips.
Put the rest of the ingredients into the blender and blend until it forms a cream, just add half a cup of water to start and add more if needed.
Mix the cream with the spaghetti. Store any left over’s in the fridge, and stir in a few Tsp’s of Nettle Pesto.
Serve with vegetables a leafy green salad.
Nettle Sweetie Treats
Ingredients:
½ cup of nettle leaves or I Tsp nettle powder- 2 cups soaked dates or mix of dried fruit, well drained
- 1 cup sunflower seeds or other nuts
- 1 Tsp Coconut oil
- 1 Tsp Cacao or Carob powder
- 1 tsp of natural almond or vanilla extract
- 1 pinch of sea salt
Directions:
Put the nettles in a food processor and process until broken up into little bits.
Add the seeds or nuts and process until fine, add in the other ingredients, process but leave a little chunky.
If it needs moisture to turn the blades add a little orange juice or water.
Form into little balls by rolling between the palms of your hands and roll in cacao or carob powder, desiccated coconut, ground nuts or other superfood powders to make little truffles.
Refrigerate for a few hours to firm up, serve as an after dinner treat, with a creamy cup of Nettle Milk, or package them nicely with a ribbon and a note, for your loved one.
Dreamy Nettle Milk
Ingredients:
- 1 cup of soaked seeds or nuts
or 1 Tbsp of nut/seed butter - 1 handful of fresh nettle leaves
- A few pitted soaked dates,
or a banana, or your favorite sweetener - Half a vanilla pod
or a few drops of vanilla extract - A pinch of cinnamon
- A sprinkle of grated nutmeg
- 1 Tablespoon of your favorite superfoods can be added,
such as cacao, carob, maca, mesquite, bee pollen, etc. - 2-4 cups of spring water or sub some ice for water
Directions:
It’s amazing how many different ways we can get that nettle nutrition.
If bitter beverages and guzzling greens doesn’t rock your boat then try something more dreamily creamy. Simply add a handful of nettle tops to your favorite nut or seed milk and blend or try the following.
Blend and dreamily imagine how the protein and minerals in this creamy concoction are feeding your body beautiful.
Tip: If you blend with warm water this makes a lovely ‘Nettle Latte’.
If you’d like to learn even more about wild edibles and go through a guided journey of all four seasons and learn the fundamentals of what you need to start adding more wild food to your diet and lifestyle, register now for the next session of our Wild Edibles Women’s Wellness University Course.
About Heather Gardner
Heather is a Raw Food and Kundalini Yoga Teacher. A lifelong 3rd generation vegetarian she began learning about herbs and wild foods at a young age from her herbalist mother while growing up on a remote mountainside in Ireland. Due to numerous health challenges at a young age, she began delving into the world of foraging, potion making, herbs, nutrition, and raw & living foods as a teenager searching for solutions. At 20 while studying Natural Nutrition she began learning and experimenting with the Raw Lifestyle, and at 27 she began to move onto a raw diet and has transitioned to a balanced high raw diet over time. She is qualified in many healing modalities and has over 10 years experience as a Natural Remedies, Health & Beauty manager and Brand manager within the UK Natural Products industry, working to help people to achieve better health naturally. Now she lives in the west of Ireland, devising raw recipes, making beauty potions, foraging, writing, teaching and running her business www.consciousearthcompany.com as well as running after her feisty little toddler! Connect with Heather on Facebook here.