FORAGING NETTLES + STINGING NETTLE PESTO
Main dishes, Paleo, Vegan
I’d heard that during the second world war stinging nettle recipes were a staple but those were the only stories I knew of about nettle eating before 2020. But during…
My family is a sticky note writing family. As a teenager if I would came home at night after my parents were asleep I would usually find a yellow sticky note on the kitchen counter saying ‘Goodnight’ or, ‘Family breakfast at 8am?’ or ‘I’ll be walking the dog early if you want to come’. Then I would turn it over and write a little note for whoever woke up first. Alternatively, I also use them to apologize when I remove all the yummy dried fruit from a packet of boring granola….
Muesli style granola is boring to me, apart from the fruit I find it dry and sawdust like. So one time through a stay at my parents’ house in London, I had delved multiple times into bag of posh sawdust granola in their cupboard, but only for the dried fruit part. I delved and ate until there was no fruit left, oops. The box had proudly stated “50% fruit” on the front, so before I flew home, I apologetically put a sticky note over the statement changing it to “no longer 50% fruit”. Guilty. But, sawdust granola doesn’t deserve yummy fruit. Granola should be delicious through and through; sweet, crunchy, but still a little chewy, lots of flavour, juicy dried fruit… so that’s what we now make and always have on hand. I don’t need to pick any part out of this, it can easily be adjusted to be exactly to your taste and you’ll want the whole thing. I do it slightly different every time depending on what I have in the house. The latest batch I made was cinnamon, raisin, pecan. It’s great for breakfast with some fresh almond milk, or on ice cream as a dessert, or in my bag as a snack to go… Stored sealed in a glass jar and it will last longer than you can keep it around, I promise!
Recipe:
1 cup of nuts and seeds, chopped (I usually do 1/3 cashews, 1/3 almonds, 1/3 sunflower)
1/3 cup raw local honey (or use maple syrup for a vegan version)
1/3 cup coconut oil
1/3 cup nut/seed butter
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp good salt
2 cups oats
1 cup dried fruit – I use raisins and dates
On the lowest heat slowly melt together the raw local honey, coconut oil and nut butter then add 1 tsp cinnamon and 1/2 tsp good salt. Then stir in 2 cups oats and 1 cup nuts/seeds (I used cashews). Spread evenly and thinly on a tray and bake at 325F for 20 mins turning every 5-10 mins. When its cool add in 1 cup dried fruit. Store in an airtight container. I think it’s best with freshly made vanilla almond milk poured on top.
A quick almond milk lesson… Soak 1 cup almonds in water overnight or for 10is hours. In the morning drain and blend the almonds really well with 3 cups water, a couple of dates, a splash of vanilla and a pinch of salt. Strain the blended liquid through a nut milk bag
