Eating nettles

Yummy woods nettles with a companion trillium

Before I shopped for a dinner party Saturday night and an Easter potluck the next day I went out into the woods and harvested a big bag of woods nettles. They were featured in both meals.

When I tell people I’m serving them nettles, I get a variety of reactions. The most common is, “Are you sure they won’t sting? How did you learn they were edible? What do they taste like?” A few people refuse to try them. A few wild food enthusiasts say, “Oh goody!” It was such a friend, Mark Liechty, who introduced me to them. And some born and bred city folks say, “What are nettles?”

Most people seem to be converts after the first taste. Here are my secrets to nettles cuisine:

1)   Use only woods nettles. These are much tastier than the ditch nettles, which, as far as I am concerned, taste exactly like what they are: weeds. You can distinguish the kinds by where they grow—woods nettles grow only in woods, though often in disturbed areas. Regular nettles grow in more open spaces. They look different.

Not so yummy ditch nettles.

2)   Harvest them when they first come up, which is right now this year in Michigan but several weeks later most years. They are best when the shoots are just unfolding or when all the leaves are still clustered near the top. Wear rubber gloves! Snip them off with scissors, including a few inches of stem. (You can harvest them later if you take just the tips but it’s a big hassle. You have to wear full protective gear even in the summer because any brush with the plant hurts a lot for about 5 minutes.)

3)   I wear protective gear when harvesting the shoots as well, not against the little plants but against ticks.

4)   Wash them in several waters, again wearing gloves or using utensils to avoid touching them though they usually don’t sting after they’re wet.

5)   Steam them in a little water just until they wilt and are bright green. If you cook them too long they will disintegrate. We’re talking minutes. Brave a taste! The stems should have a bit of resistance but not be tough.

6)   Toss them with salt, pepper, and olive oil.

7)   Do not try this with poison ivy.

You can also sauté nettles briefly and use them in omelets, or put them in soup, but I prefer the unadulterated greens. Woods nettles are sweet as spinach without the oxalic acid. On Saturday I told Congolese guests that I thought nettles tasted like the greens we had in Africa called lenga-lenga. They agreed and asked for seconds and thirds of “lenga-lenga.”