LET'S GO WILD!!


What a beautiful sunny day!
Perfect for a nice stroll through the garden to collect some wild green superfoods absolutely free!
There are edible greens everywhere, healthier even than spinach or shop bought kale!

So, baby in the buggy, extra strong household gloves on my hands and equipped with a big bowl and scissors, I went and cut the tips of lots of nettles for dinner today.

Once the nettles are collected, they need to be blanched (pour boiling water over them and leave for a couple of minutes) to remove the sting. I have never tried them raw and to be perfectly honest I am not planning to either, but if any of you want to try them in a green smoothie, please let me know how it went! ;-).
When the nettles are blanched, strain them but don't throw away the water, it contains a lot of goodness -  like a super fresh and strong nettle tea that you can drink pure or with some honey or use as a hair rinse to make your hair shiny, or treat skin conditions with, or pour into your bath.....

When they are strained, cut them up and use them in your cooking. There are a lot of recipes for nettle soup like this one http://glosvegans.wordpress.com/tag/vegan-nettle-soup/ (it also has a great recipe for wild garlic pesto), but you can use it in any way you would use spinach or kale (other than raw ;-)).

Tonight, we had spelt spaghetti with wild greens (nettles, chickweed and "fat hen"), creamed with macadamia nut cheese and it was delicious! ;-)

NETTLE NUTRITION

Nettles are super high in nutrients like Vitamins A, B, K and C, iron, potassium, sulphur and calcium. In fact, according to skipthepie.org's nutritional calculator, only 1 cup of nettles contain 43% of your daily value of calcium - at only 37 calories! They also contain serotonin and can suppress appetite and balance your mood, plus, they are perfect for detoxifying and strengthening your immune system, purify the blood and shed excess water.

So there you go! Eat more weeds! ;-)

Next on my list is a favorite of mine:

WILD GARLIC

I am very lucky to have a big garden with a river at the end and lots of wild herbs and edible greens growing on my doorstep, but even if you live in a city you really don't have to go very far to find some treasures! Springtime is great for foraging for greens and wild garlic is one of my favorite ever! If you live in Wexford, why not take a walk through the beautiful grounds of Tintern Abbey, where the ground is carpeted with these beauties! You find a great recipe for wild garlic pesto here http://glosvegans.wordpress.com/tag/vegan-nettle-soup/.

CHICKWEED AND FAT HEN

These two are great "weeds" and we have millions of them in our garden. Both are great wild green vegetables that are very nutritious and also have lots of medicinal properties.
Look up more about chickweed here http://www.livestrong.com/article/407614-what-are-the-health-benefits-of-chickweed/ and about fat hen (or lambs quarters) here http://herbs-treatandtaste.blogspot.ie/2011/08/fat-hen-not-just-chicken-feed-history.html

So I really did have a great day today! Walking and foraging outdoors in sunshine with the birds singing and the kids playing, shopping in nature for free and then making and eating a tasty meal!
Maybe you want to try it too some day? ;-)