Tag Archives: garlic cloves

Nettle soup and A little urban foraging not wasting the world away

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I like doing a good bit of foraging and colleting stuff. One of my pet hates is seeing stuff that could be used for something being thrown away and ending up in land fill and then seeing people purchase something new that takes yet more from a world that can ill afford it. Mind you I have been banned from hard rubbish days for the time being until I use up what I have already rescued.

I have been looking for some additional pallets to put up some shelves in the back shed and happened to notice a good batch of them at favourite haunt. I use pallets all the time and keep a good stock to allow me to make things like the warm bed I made recemtly for my seedlings, so I grabbed them and will build the shelves and post on that and other projects shortly.

Also managed to get a hold of a nice big bag of nettles to make soup. For those of you who have never had nettles give it a try. It tastes fantastic is cheap and very very good for you. Be careful obviously that you know where you nettles come from just to make sure that they have not been sprayed.

Using these sorts of things in simple meals makes a big difference. We waste so much spraying out so called weeds to plant other plants and as I have said a frugal life has to become the norm in the 1st world as it is in the 3rd world. At the end of the day we all live in one world.

As for the nettles if I can get some more I am going to make pesto with some local hazelnuts I have

Recipe for Nettle Soup

  • Big bag of young nettles
  • 1 large onion
  • 6 -8 garlic cloves to taste
  • 3 potatoes (I used Dutch creams)
  • olive oil
  • salt and pepper
  • 2 liters of stock (chicken or vegetable)
  • cream to taste when serving (optional)

Dice onions and potatoes and crush garlic sauté in olive oil for a few minutes.

Strip the leaves of the nettles (warning they bite) I use scissors to remove the leaves and wash in cold water if there is any dirt on them

Add to the pan with the other vegetables and wilt then add 2 liters of stock and cook for 20 minutes or so till potatoes is soft. Cool and puree with a stick blender. Reheat and serve with cream and cracked black pepper.

The soup will freeze well but don’t add the cream till you warm it up

(Note : I made a mistake and started with too small a pan which is why you see two pots in the photo’s next time I would just use the big pot)

So you don’t have time to make dinner …

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When I got back from japan at the start of the week ago it was a bit of shock to go from 22 -25 degree Celsius and a nice level of humidity to the cold that is Melbourne this time of year.

It was a bit busy as it always is when you get back catching up on life work and everything and it would have been very easy to reach for the take out for the week and blame it on the life and travel. I didn’t and am glad for it. Life is about the living and buying take out and eating meals at work does not count as living for me…

A bit of planning and some quick recipes and we ended up with some nice meals and bit of cash in our pockets. I am going to do a post on cash and the saving of it. It is not about the money saved but what can be done by the money saved.

So the meals for the week

Tuesday off the plane and to work day.

One pot rissoni, with beans and chorizo (takes less than 15 minutes and I made a double batch)

  • 1 tablespoon of Sunflower oil
  • 1 Chorizo
  • 1 Onion
  • 2 – 3 garlic cloves sliced
  • 440 gm. can of tomatoes
  • 440 gm. Can of beans
  • 1 & 1/3 Can of water
  • 1 cup of Rissoni
  • White Pepper
  • Salt to taste.

Add oil, cubed chorizo and sliced onion fry till onion is golden. Add garlic and continue to fry for 2 minutes. Add in the tomatoes, water, rissoni (small pasta shaped like rice) and good batch of white pepper and salt to taste. Bring to boil. Simmer till rissoni is cooked (about 5 – 7 minutes as the rissoni cooks very quickly)

Serve  with some fresh herbs or some sort of cheese on top you have (I have used cheddar, parmesan, feta and salted ricotta at various times all with success)

Wednesday we had the mix of A. going to her sewing group and my parents getting back into town so I cheated … kind of and pulled out some frozen homemade pumpkin and bacon soup out and put it on the stove. Served with bread and feta on top and quick salad it heated up while I got the kids to bed. It feed 6 of us and enough for lunch the next day (see a post on bulk cooking shortly for the recipe)

Thursday packet pasta with tomato and veg as we get our ceres pack that night

Latina tortellini (or any other type of pasta even unfilled) dropped in hot water to soak while you cook the rest of the meal.

Slice 2- 3 garlic cloves, 1 onion, capsicum, some bacon or in this case a smoked chicken breast. Fry all ingredients till onion is just coloured. Drop in a 440gram of tomatoes and a can of water. White pepper, chili, salt and ½ teaspoon of brown sugar. Cook for 3-4 minutes. Add drained pasta and 1 cup of frozen peas. Cook till pasta is done.

Served with a big salad took 20 minutes while Andrea bathed kids.

Friday left overs and another huge salad from our ceres box.

Yes it was a busy week but when is it not a busy week for any of us? I am not putting this up to say nah nah but simply to show that with a bit of planning and a few skills anyone can eat well and live a bit more.