In my last post, I shared the benefits of using nettles for morning blended drinks and infusions. I can attest that these drinks have successfully replaced for my morning coffee. Because I collected more nettles than I could use in a week, I tried think of more ways to use them besides in soup, and then my brain was stung with a stunning idea: nettle chips. It took me about 2 seconds from having the idea to getting my bag of nettles, gloving up and removing the stems from the leaves. I washed the leaves with cold water which softened the nettle’s stingers, spun dried them in the salad spinner and then set them out on a towel to air dry. Afterwards, I made the nettle chips exactly like I make kale chips. The nettle chips are lighter, almost flaky, a little fuzzy and more delicate than kale chips, but just as tasty and satisfying. They’re sorta an elevated kale chip. It definitely elevates my mood to think about how much they would cost if I bought them at Whole Foods.
Nettle Chip Recipe
(amounts vary on quantities used so just use your judgment)
Drizzle and toss enough olive oil to coat leaves. (Use a glove or metal tongs)
Add sea salt and nutritional yeast to taste
If you like spicey chips, add garlic powder and chipotle for seasoning.
Dehydrate at 145 degrees for an hour
Or, put in oven at 200 degrees on parchment paper. Turn leaves after 20-30 minutes.
While nettle season is in full swing, my dehydrator will be continuously humming with nettles inside. They will be an excellent snack food and addition to our summer’s backpacking food, given its high amount of protein and minerals. I learned from www.skipthepie.org that 1 cup of cooked nettles provides 43% of the recommend daily intake (RDI) of calcium, 8% of Iron, 5 % of protein, 35 % of manganese, 36 % of Vitamin A and 555% of Vitamin K.
It takes some mettle to work with nettles but they give high rewards — even more vigor.