beauties! i tried something new and i want to share it with you: stinging nettles! woot woot. the truth is.. i have been (passively) avoiding them for a few years now... only to see them in a soup somewhere hip & fancy ;) i always wonder what they would be like, taste like, feel like etc... and now i know! it's amazing what happens when you open up to trying something new, unzip yourself to the idea and allow the belly of your fears to the unknown just hang out of your pants!! 'let loose!' as my incredible yogi friend says when stretching so wide and open. i love it.
they were amazing. it took some time to get used to the idea of eating something that could sting me in it's rawest form... once they go into boiling water for one second all the stingers fall off! they have the texture of mint and the taste of something deep and green. it's always hard to express taste.. i feel like there are so many attributes to that first bite... including that belly feeling, open & inviting something in that has always been open to me, then actually trying it... taking the time to introduce myself to another incredible piece of the earth has such a profound place in my heart. i guess that is why it's such an honor to feed YOU!! so you can feel this too.
on this particular day, beauty and ocean were home with runny noses and coughs. party. so i threw all the nettles in the sink and washed them off with the sprayer... (oh and i did not have gloves....super careful with the bag) i used those family heirloom tongs and my scissors to handle them. i cut off all the leaves and put them aside. i put a few in a little pot with water and boiled them to make tea. i added some dark honey and the kids drank it up!! here is a video of beauty loving on it...
i also wanted to try the 'fancy' soup which really means i got over myself and bought nettles for 2 - 3 dollah at the market.. the fancy part is nourishing the self which is fancy, feels so good everytime and needs to be a part of our daily routine stat. hello renaissance mamas. so, for the soup i started with a medium sized pot on medium, poured some olive oil, chopped a yellow onion, garlic and some fingerling potatoes (it's all i had, peeled em' too), some celery and i think that was it.. oh maybe some leeks too! loving the leeks right now... and yes, the nettles.. i boiled it up for one minute and then simmer for 30+ minutes. i like everything to linger together for awhile in a soup, really get to know each other. once i turn off the fire, it continues it's dance till we eat. it was exactly what we all needed that night.. healing, medicinal, earthy and loose. see you in the kitchenxxxx
ps: i pureed it the next day & it was thick and so good...so many ways to skin a cat as my
grandmother used to sayxxxx
