Stinging nettle soup can be the perfect luscious leafy-green nutrition hit, and it is yummy, too. You can make it thick (my favorite) or thin. Adding small amount of your favorite tasty fat will help your body take up the nutrients.

Young stinging nettle plants.

Enjoy the rich, green color of this energizing dish!

This soup is a little bit different every time I make it, so don't bother to follow this fuzzy recipe too closely. Just throw the stuff together and it will turn out just fine. Remember to handle fresh stinging nettles with gloves.

Simple Nettle Soup

Half of a plastic produce bag or plastic grocery bag of fresh nettle leaves (about a gallon of loose leaves), or a pint of packed frozen nettles that you foraged and put up in the spring.
One chopped onion
About two tablespoons olive oil
2 to 3 cups chicken stock (or Chicken Better than Bullion mixed with water)
Optional: A dollop of sour cream
Optional: A pat of butter and a few tablespoons of maple syrup

In a heavy pot saute the chopped onion in the olive oil until the onion is translucent. Add the chicken stock and nettles and bring to a boil for 2 or 3 minutes, stirring a few times. Puree in batches in the blender. Ladle into bowls and top with a dollop of sour cream OR a pat of butter and a swirl of maple syrup.

More leaves and less stock makes a thicker soup.
If you cook the leaves too long then they will turn a sickly olive drab color. Still edible, but not as delightful as the rich green that nettle soup should be.
This soup holds for several days in the refrigerator.
Leftovers can be served hot or cold.
You can add a cup of cooked rice before pureeing the soup to make a very filling soup.

Stinging nettles (Urtica dioica)

You wanted a pretty picture of the soup in a bowl? I don't have one. Hey, I'm no wizard in the galley, and presentation is not my strong suit. If you submit a nice photo of the nettle soup that you make then I could publish it. So no appetizing food pictures today. Instead I have trippy nettle plants: