Stinging nettle is one of those super plants that supposedly does it all. I can’t speak to all its benefits, but I do find stinging nettle helpful for seasonal allergies. So do others, apparently.
The Mount Sinai Health Library has this to say about nettle:
One preliminary human study suggested that nettle capsules helped reduce sneezing and itching in people with hay fever. In another study, 57% of patients rated nettles as effective in relieving allergies, and 48% said that nettles were more effective than allergy medications they had used previously.
I’ve been drinking nettle tea in the morning, but ya know, I’m a coffee kinda’ girl. I’ve been thinking I’d like to chew my nettle.
Stinging Nettle Crisps (Chips)
Plus, I’m a big fan of crispy, salty, baked-in-lard type of foods. As long as that lard is from pastured pigs, that is.
So, hey, if you can make a chip from kale, you can make a chip from nettle, I’m thinking. A pretty darn good chip, if I do say so myself!
For dinner the other night, we had grass-fed burgers with dandelion pesto, and a side of stinging nettle chips. Couldn’t get any better than that!
Just be sure to wear gloves while harvesting and while removing the nettle from its stems. They don’t call it stinging for nothin’. Cooking the nettle will render the little stinging hairs harmless.
What great ways do you use stinging nettle? Get the stinging nettle chips recipe below.
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Stinging Nettle Chips
Ingredients
- 3 – 4 cups stinging nettle leaves
- 2 tablespoons melted lard tallow, or coconut oil
- sea salt to taste
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 300°.
- Toss the nettle leaves with melted fat. Spread on a baking sheet.
- Sprinkle on sea salt to taste.
- Bake for 20 – 30 minutes until crisp, gently turning once with a spatula halfway through baking.
- Cool on paper towels.
