Eating raw nettle leaves is normally not recommended, as the stinging hairs will cause a reaction – but blending the nettles in this smoothie recipe breaks the stinging hairs. However, make sure to take care when picking and handling the nettles beforehand. If you want to be especially careful, you can leave them to wilt slightly between picking and blending the nettle leaves, as this should weaken the strength of the stings.
More on foraging with nettles:
Ingredients
- Nettle tips or young leaves 50g, blanched
- Apple 1, peeled and cored
- Natural yoghurt 280ml
- Diluted nettle juice or apple juice 280ml
- Ice cubes 6
Method
-
Step 1
Blend the ingredients together at high-speed in a blender until smooth.
Step 2
You can add more juice to make a thinner drink or more yoghurt for a thicker texture.
This recipe is an extract from Nettle Cookbook by Vivian Tuffney, published by the Natural History Museum, London.
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[image id=”51933″ size=”landscape_thumbnail” align=”none” title=”Nettle Cookbook cover” alt=”Nettle Cookbook cover” classes=””]Main image: Nettle smoothie. © Getty