I found a gold mine of Stinging Nettles while on a bike ride that took me over sidewalks, across streets, past fields, and through the woods. In my case I was on a hunt for this delectable edible but it may trigger the newbie's sense of touch before their sense of sight. Both the oppositely arranged toothed leaves and the square stems are completely covered in stinging hairs that inject formic acid into skin that grazes it.
How on Earth could such a plant be edible? With a snip, blanch, boil and blend.
To protect myself from the stinging hairs I used scissors to guide the top of the plant over my opened ziplock bag and snipped off the tender tips.
I filled up an entire 1-gallon bag.
Back home I carefully sifted through the nettles and remove debris.
I sauteed half of a chopped onion in 2tbs of butter, steamed a single carrot and a single potato, and blanched the nettles by giving them a 2 minute long boiling water bath (which disarms the stinging hairs).
I rinsed the blanched nettles.
I combined the nettles, sauteed onions, and steamed vegetables in a pot and brought them to a boil along with 3 cups of water and 2 bouillon cubes.
I placed soup in a blender...
and pureed the ingredients.
The result-a beautiful green and decadent soup!
