Spring Nettle & Vegetable Detox Soup - Strengthen Body & Energy Field

This is the time of year when the baby nettles are in full growth – but not yet gone into flower. These lovely herbs are one of natures gifts to us during our spring time detox to cleanse the blood, boost our iron and minerals as well as strengthen the energy field.

I have long used this herb in conjunction with a few others to help myself and clients bring back a damaged or broken energy field as well as to enable energy blocks and stuck areas to move up to re-pattern.

Nettle is a versatile, healthy, natural and energetic marvel of the Universe when it comes to healing herbs. I use it for everything from feeding my goats their mash, in soups and stews, herbal teas, vegetarian rennet for cheese making, herbal medicine – have I left anything out?

The growing tips and stems can easily be harvested by simply taking a pair of scissors and cutting about 10 cm off the top of each plant in a nettle patch. This way, they will regrow quickly and you get the best leaves for cooking and eating.

I like my nettle mixed in with vegetables when I make a light detox soup – I usually only have a few ingredients in this type of meal but it also depends on what I have on hand to be used up. So, you can be very creative here....

Most vegetables are healthy and healing so throw in what you have! LOL

Today I started out by washing my nettles, removing any leaves that had brown or black edges on them and then letting them sit in water to clear out any bugs or dirt. These are to be added to the soup only for the final 10 minutes of cooking.

Then I sautéd some onions, fresh baby leeks from the garden, garlic and spices (I used ground coriander, cumin, turmeric, salt and pepper) in a little water and olive oil. I like the flavour they give to any soup or stew.

Next I chopped, sliced and diced a few vegetables I had on hand – today I had pumpkin, fennel and carrots – these were all added into a small pot with some water and a few pieces of seaweed.

I let the vegetables cook until softened and then added the sautéd onion mixture (top up a little more water if needed). This cooked for another 10 minutes and then the nettles were added.

I like to leave the soup to cook only long enough to soften and take away the sting from the nettles. Cooking too long would also destroy some of their health benefits –so 7 to 10 minutes more is long enough.

Once the soup was done – I turned it off and let cool for a while - I blended it a little for our taste tester. This soup is nice on it’s own or with something light like couscous and a piece of crusty bread.

April

Nettle tops from the garden