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Spring has sprung – but have you?

Jenny Jones Dip Phyt, FNIMH & Debs Cook

So it seems that spring is finally on its way. New shots are starting to appear and the buds are breaking on the trees.

But how about you – are you ready to spring into action?

Sometimes at this time of year we feel a little jaded. The long winter has taken its toll and although we would love to have the same energy as the plants we just don’t seem to have the get up and go.

There has been a long history of the need for spring tonics. When all you had to survive on was a little dried meat, stored grain and root vegetables, the appearance of the first nettles must have been an exciting time, and although we have so much choice these days, a bowl of nettle soup or a cup of nettle teas at this time of year still makes sense.

Nettles are very nutritious as they contain lots of iron, vitamin C, and calcium. Their historical reputation is as a ‘blood cleanser’, a description that illustrates very well one of the actions required of a useful tonic. Re-enforcing this description are its diuretic, circulatory stimulant and eliminative qualities.

Hilda Leyel certainly thought highly of the nettle. She said ‘No plant is more useful in domestic medicine’. About the same time as the nettle appears, so does the dandelion. This plant is truly remarkable. First there is its nutritional value with Vitamins A, B and C and numerous minerals being present in all parts on the plant.

Its leaves have an affinity with the kidneys, toning kidney tissue and helping with elimination. The roots have a similar affinity with the liver. Their bitter flavour and toning action stimulates the portal circulation, ensures that the liver works well, which in turn aids the gall bladder and the bowel.

So, we see a pattern here. Two plants that appear very early in the growing year, both with high nutritional value, that stimulate circulation and aid in elimination leaving you feel alive and ready to enjoy the spring. Making nettle and dandelion part of your diet whilst they are young is not difficult. Below is a recipe for nettle soup, and the dandelion recipes that Debs Cook made at the recent recording of ‘Countryfile’.

Nettle Soup

Preparation and cooking time 45 min. Serves 4

3 bowls of nettle tops (wear rubber gloves when picking.
1 bowl of chopped onion.
1 bowl of chopped carrots
1 bowl of chopped parsnip or swede
2 tbsp plain flour
Mixture of oil and butter for frying.
1 clove of garlic.
Bay leaves, 2 sprigs each of rosemary and thyme.
500ml of vegetable or chicken stock
Salt and pepper to taste.

Method

Fry the chopped vegetables in a mixture of oil and butter. Add flour and then the stock. Add the nettles (the ‘sting’ dissolves in the stock and is tasteless and harmless), garlic, herbs and seasoning. Simmer for 30 minutes then remove the bay leaves and blend the soup.

Zesty Dandelion Salad

The light citrus dressing goes just right with the tangy, bitter taste of the dandelion leaves. Serves four.

150g Fresh Young Dandelion Leaves
150g Baby Spinach
1 Red Onion, thinly sliced
Bunch Flat Leaf Parsley, finely chopped
Handful of dandelion petals and pumpkin seeds for garnish.

Dressing:

100ml Orange Juice
50ml Lemon Juice
100ml Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
2 Tbsp Chopped Lemon Thyme
2 Tbsp Chopped Lemon Verbena (if you can't find lemon verbena, tarragon is a good substitute).
½ Clove Garlic, crushed
Pinch Sugar
Sea Salt & Black Pepper to taste

Method

Dressing - Make the dressing a few hours in advance for the flavours to infuse, if you can make it and leave it in the fridge over night it will be better. Finely chop the herbs, peel and crush the garlic and juice the citrus fruit. In a bowl, combine all the dressing ingredients. Taste and adjust the seasoning.

Salad - In a large salad bowl, combine the washed and dried dandelion leaves, spinach, onion and parsley. Drizzle with enough dressing to coat greens and toss well. Sprinkle with dandelion petals and pumpkin seeds and serve.

Dandelion Soup

This tasty and nutritious soup is easy to make, although the BBC preferred me not to follow the method in my recipe due to time. Preferring instead the chuck it in the pan altogether method, finished with a potato masher, which is why the soup on the programme looked more like a puree! You can do that if you want, just add a little more stock to thin out the soup.

200g Young Dandelion Leaves
25g Butter
1 Small Onion (finely sliced)
1 Clove Garlic Crushed
1 Medium Potato (peeled & diced)
750ml Chicken or Vegetable Stock. (Chicken stock is best but you can use veggie stock if you want to make it vegetarian)
Salt & White Pepper to taste

Method

Pick the dandelion leaves, make sure that the leaves picked are young and tender or the soup will taste bitter! Wash the leaves well and drain. Melt the butter in a saucepan, add the onion and garlic and fry gently. Add the potato, cover the pan with a lid and sweat the vegetables over a low heat for 5 minutes. Chop the dandelion leaves then add to the pan, sweat for another 5 minutes with pan lid on, then stir in the stock, leave to cook for another 10-15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and serve with chunks of crusty bread.

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