Savory Nettle Chips

This creative and tasty recipe comes from the bloggers over at Mountain Rose Herbs.com, an excellent site to get high quality herbal products. Harvest these stinging leaves from young plants (no flower or seed) in a wooded area with a heavy pair of gloves, scissors or clippers, and a nice wide pan or basket in the spring and early summer.  It is best to snip the plant 3” above the ground, to allow the plant to come back later in the season or next year. They will sting you if they are raw and touch your skin… however, once rinsed and then baked in the oven, they loose their ouch-inducing chemicals (and become a highly nutritious food, with calcium, magnesium, iron, zinc, and plenty of phytochemicals to help you feel your best). Extra leaves can be dried and crushed to make cold brew nettle tea (see recipe in our blog archives).

Prep time: 45-60 minutes

Serves: 2-4

Ingredients:

- 20-40 freshly harvested nettle leaves, no stem
- 2.5 tsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp organic rice wine vinegar
- 1-2 tbsp organic shoyu, soy sauce, tamari, or Braggs
- 1 clove of garlic, crushed or minced fine
- 2-3 tbsp nutritional yeast
- Fresh ground organic black pepper, to taste

Instructions:

-          Preheat your oven to 200 degrees.

-          Wearing gloves, harvest your nettles, rinse with cool water, and dry. Separate the leaves by breaking the petiole (leaf stem) from the main stem.

-          Mix all of the glaze ingredients together in a bowl. Add the nettle leaves and gently toss until each leaf is well coated. You should be able to remove your gloves at this point.

-          On a parchment paper lined cookie sheet, unravel each delicate leaf. Place pan in a warm oven at 200 degrees and allow the leaves to slowly dehydrate. After 15 to 20 minutes, peel each leaf off of the parchment paper and flip over so the other side can crisp in the oven.

-          Check your nettles every 5 to 10 minutes until they lose sogginess and become nice and crunchy.

-          Be careful not to let them char and turn dark brown or black. Total cooking time can vary between 30 and 45 minutes. Once you reach the desired crispiness, remove and allow to cool.

-          Store in an airtight glass container for up to a week or possibly longer…if they aren’t devoured by then!

Recipe retrieved from http://mountainroseblog.com/nettle-chips-recipe/ on May 7, 2012.