I did a foraging cookery course a little while back, and ever since I look around my surroundings on my way to work, looking for edible plants. When I saw a big patch of nettles, I couldn’t wait to try them.
I took my bemused husband with me to help collect them, but of course I was the one to get stung reaching in too far. When we got home with the bag of nettle I gave them a good wash then boiled up one batch to use in my nettle pasta later in the week. The other half I cooked in this recipe instead of using spinach, although I have budgeted for spinach.
Nettles are a great source of vitamins and iron, similar to spinach or trendy kale. I guess they would be organic and free range too.
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Breakfast
Banana & oat pancakes with berries
Lunch
Salad
Dinner
Butter beans in tomatoes and spinach (substituted for fresh nettles)
and Homemade bread
Snacks
Chocolate muffins
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RECIPE
Butter Beans with Tomatoes and Spinach or Fresh Nettles
Preheat the oven to 160°C.
Gently soften the onion and garlic in 2 tablespoons of the olive oil for 5 minutes on a medium heat in a large saucepan.
When soft, stir in the paprika, tomato purée, chopped tomatoes, 100ml water, salt and pepper.
Bring to the boil then reduce to a simmer and cook for
30 minutes.
Stir in the spinach and butter beans and take off the heat after a couple of minutes.
Add the chopped herbs.
Transfer the beans to a casserole pan, drizzle with the remaining olive oil and bake for about 25-30 minutes until the beans are tender and the sauce thickened and bubbling.
Serve with fresh bread, you’ll want to mop up the juices.
Save some back as this taste even better the next day for leftovers.
Ingredients
2 x 400g tin butter beans
2 onions, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
6 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon sweet paprika
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon tomato purée
2 x 400g tin tomatoes
1 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
3 large handfuls of frozen spinach
Small handful fresh parsley, chopped
Small handful fresh mint, chopped
Method
Preheat the oven to 160°C.
Gently soften the onion and garlic in 2 tablespoons of the olive oil for 5 minutes on a medium heat in a large saucepan.
When soft, stir in the paprika, tomato purée, chopped tomatoes, 100ml water, salt and pepper.
Bring to the boil then reduce to a simmer and cook for
30 minutes.
Stir in the spinach and butter beans and take off the heat after a couple of minutes.
Add the chopped herbs.
Transfer the beans to a casserole pan, drizzle with the remaining olive oil and bake for about 25-30 minutes until the beans are tender and the sauce thickened and bubbling.
Serve with fresh bread, you’ll want to mop up the juices.
Save some back as this taste even better the next day for leftovers.
To prepare the nettles for cooking
We picked our nettles from a place that dogs can’t use but even so I gave them a good wash while wearing rubber gloves. Afterwards I boiled a bowl-full for 90 minutes in salted water, then quickly plunged into ice water to retain the bright green colour.
This I then drained and liquidise to use in other ingredients later in the week. The 90 minutes cooks off the sting so that you can handle and eat the nettles.
For the butter bean dish I used them as I would fresh spinach. After washing them, I carefully with gloves stirred them into the butter beans as per the recipe.
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Basic Bread Recipe
By River Cottage
Makes 2 large or 3 small loaves, or 12 rolls
1kg flour
10g powdered dried yeast
20g fine salt
700ml tap water
Optional:
2 handfuls of extras like nuts, fruit, olives, herbs or seeds.
2 handfuls for coating, for example sesame seeds, rolled oats, rye flakes, etc.
First, mix the dough. Combine the flour, yeast and salt in a large mixing bowl.
Add the water gradually and with one hand, mix to a rough dough. Adjust the consistency if you need to, with a little more flour or water, to make a soft, easily kneadable and sticky dough.
Turn the dough out on to a work surface.
Knead the dough purposefully making sure that however you do it, you are stretching the dough and folding it back over itself repeatedly and rhythmically. This will take about 10-15 minutes. If you are using larger extras, like nuts and fruit, stretch the dough out on the work surface, scatter over the ingredients, then fold, roll and knead briefly, to disperse them.
Before the dough goes back into the bowl fold the dough in half about 4 times working round from the top, flip it over and gently help it form into a round. This gentle folding helps build structure within the dough.
Pop the dough back into the bowl, cover and leave to ferment and rise until doubled in size. You can leave the dough for as little as 1 hour or for up to about 4 hours at room temperature. You can also allow your dough to prove slowly in the fridge for a minimum of about 8 hours and up to 24 hours.
To help develop the gluten further and help create slightly larger air bubbles and more character in your loaves, you can periodically during proving remove the dough from the bowl onto a lightly floured surface and repeat the careful folding process, allowing at least 30 minutes between each fold.
Divide the dough into as many pieces as you wish. Pre shape these into rounds and leave them to rest, covered, for 10–30minutes.
Shape the loaves as you wish, and if you like coat the outside with your chosen coating. Transfer the loaves to well-floured boards, linen cloths, tea towels or proving baskets.
Switch the oven to 230°C or Gas Mark 10. Put your baking tray in the oven and remove any unwanted shelves. Put a roasting tin in the bottom if you are using it for steam. Get your serrated knife if using, an oven cloth, and clear the area around the oven.
Leave to prove until you see the loaf has increased in size and check often by pushing your finger by pushing about 1cm into the loaf. You’re looking for the dough to spring back very slowly but still leave a slight indentation.
Transfer the loaves for baking to the hot tray and slash the tops with the serrated knife. Bring the boiling kettle to the oven, if you are using it. Put the tray in the oven, and pour some boiling water into the roasting tin, and close the door as quickly as you can.
Check the loaves after about 20 minutes turn the trays round.
They recommend leaving the loaves to bake at a high temperature for the full baking time of 35-40 minutes to achieve a nice dark, thin crust with a light crumb. But keep an eye of them.
However if you prefer a paler crust turn the heat down after about 20 minutes to: 200°C or Gas Mark 6.
Bake until the loaves are browned and crusty, and feel hollow when you tap them: in total, 10–20 minutes for rolls; 30–40 minutes for small loaves; 40–50 minutes for large loaves. If in doubt, bake for a few minutes longer.
Leave to cool on a wire rack or anything similar that allows air underneath. Bread for tearing can be served warm, but bread for slicing must be cooled completely.
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Vegan Pancakes
Ingredients
100g oats
1 teaspoon baking powder
a pinch of sea salt
1 ripe banana, peeled and mashed
150ml vegan milk
Serve with maple syrup and bananas or a few defrosted berries
Method
Mix all the ingredients together in a bender then add a little oil in a frying pan.
Place a tablespoon of the mixer in the medium hot pan and repeat to cook a few at a time, but make sure they’re not touching, after a couple of minutes turn them over and cook the other side until golden brown.
Serve with maple syrup and fruit.
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Vegan chocolate and peanut butter muffins
Ingredients
1 cup Plain Flour
2/3 cup Oats
1/3 cup Cocoa Powder
3/4 cup Sugar
1 tablespoon Baking Powder
1/2 cup Peanut Butter
1 cup Soya Milk
Method
Preheat the oven at 200°C or Gas Mark 6
In a large bowl combine together the flour, oat, cocoa powder, sugar and baking powder.
In a small sauce pan, over low heat, melt peanut butter in milk, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and set aside to cool slightly.
Once the peanut butter mixture is cool, incorporate it into the dry ingredients and stir until just combined.
Spoon the batter into the prepared pan filling it to the top of each cup.
Place in the oven for 13-15 minutes until cooked.
Eat Not Spend 