Wild garlic and nettle soup
Nettle and lemon cake
Wild Greens Smoothie by Rosie Rose
Harvest of the day
Soup: celery, nettle, wild garlic, leeks / Cake: Nettle / Smoothie: sticky willy, yarrow and other greens
Wild garlic and nettle soup
Ingredients
1 tbsp rapeseed oil, plus extra for drizzling
25g butter
1 onion, finely diced
1 leek, finely diced
2 celery sticks, thinly sliced
1 carrot, finely diced
1 small potato, peeled and diced
1.2l good-quality vegetable stock
300g young nettle leaves
200g wild garlic leaves (keep any flowers if you have them)
3 tbsp milk
Method
Heat the oil and butter in a large saucepan. Add the onion, leek, celery, carrot, potato and a good pinch of salt, and stir until everything is well coated. Cover and sweat gently for 15-20 mins, stirring every so often to make sure that the vegetables don’t catch on the bottom of the pan.
Pour in the stock and simmer for 10 mins. Add the nettles in several batches, stirring, then add the wild garlic leaves and simmer for 2 mins.
Remove from the heat and blend using a stick blender or tip into a blender. Return to the heat and stir through the milk, then taste for seasoning. Ladle into bowls and drizzle over a little extra oil, then top with a few wild garlic flowers, if you have them.
Stinging nettle and lemon cake (x5)
Ingredients
2 cups (100g) packed raw young nettle leaves (use the top 4-6 leaves)
¾ cup (200g) butter at room temperature
¾ cup (150g) granulated sugar
3 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
zest and juice of ½ lemon
2 cups (250g) all-purpose (plain) flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
Method
Preheat oven to 325°F / 170°C. Grease and line two 7” (18cm) round cake tins.
Using rubber gloves, carefully wash the stinging nettle leaves and remove any stems. Place in a pan of boiling water and boil for 3-4 minutes. The sting will be removed with the boiling. Rinse under cold water, drain and puree with a stick blender (note: if you’re struggling to puree it, add the lemon juice at this stage). Set aside.
In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then beat in the pureed nettles, vanilla, zest and lemon juice.
Sift in the flour, baking powder and salt and stir to gently combine.
Spoon the mixture into the prepared tins, push to the edges and level, then bake for 25 minutes or until an inserted skewer comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes in the tins and then turn onto a wire rack to cool completely before icing.
Wild Greens Smoothie by Rosie Rose (1pint glass)
Ingredients
1 banana, or avocado or pear chopped
Small handful chopped greens: chickweed, nettle, dandelion greens, cleavers, spinach
½ cup plant milk
½ cup cold herbal tea: nettle, cleavers, dandelions, mint, etc.
1 tbsp nut or seed butter
1 tsp honey, maple or 1 date
¼ teaspoon cinnamon powder, cardamom or turmeric
1 tsp superfood powder: cacao or wheat grass
Method
Wash, chop, and prepare your ingredients
Add to a jus or blender cup
Blitz in a blender o with hand blender for 30-60 seconds
Pour and drink or store in fridge for up to 24hrs
Grow Dundee 