Preparing for the holidays

Most people prepare for Thanksgiving by brining turkey or making pies.

This year, I prepared by making Green Soup.

Holiday food is higher in fat and sugar than our regular daily fare, but it wouldn't be a holiday without butter and whipped cream and dessert. So Green Soup is our preventative medicine. We ate it last night, we'll eat it again next weekend, and I froze some to eat over the Christmas holiday too - in between the feasting.

Green Soup is a nutrition powerhouse - loads of liver support, blood support, bone support - you name it. Just what a body needs to feel strong enough to withstand the food assault of the holiday season.

After we ate the Green Soup last night, Larry thanked me for making it. It's not his favorite food - one bowl is enough - but he can feel the goodness while he's eating it.

The first time you serve Green Soup to your family, serve it in small bowls before the main course. And use greens you know your family likes, like chard or spinach or collard greens. A combination is nice. And of course, dandelion greens and nettles add to the mineral load, so add them if you think your family will handle it.

This is the recipe I made yesterday. It's unlikely you'll be lucky enough to have the diversity of greens I did, so use what you have. Use mild greens like collards and spinach to tone down the spicier mustard and turnip greens. (See my recipe for Radish Green Soup for another version.)

This recipe makes a large pot - make a half recipe the first time.

Looks like green goop. Tastes delicious. And your body will thank you for it.

Green Soup
3/4 lb potatoes

1 bunch turnip greens

1 bunch mustard greens

1 bunch collard greens

1 bunch nettles

1/2 large onion (1 cup diced)
1 tbsp olive oil
1 bulb fennel
1 clove garlic
1 cup vegetable stock
1 cup water


Peel and dice the potatoes. Boil in salted water until tender. Drain.

Gently rinse the nettles in cold water. Be careful touching them because they can sting. Remove the toughest stems, then cook them in a little water until they are very soft. Purée them with extra water if necessary - they make a wonderfully vibrant green liquid - and set aside.

Wash the other greens well. Chop them (including the stems), and set to one side.

Sauté the onion in olive oil until tender. Cut the stems off the fennel. Quarter the bulb and remove the core. Dice the remaining bulb and add it to the pot along with the chopped garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the fennel is soft.

Add the stock and water. Add handfuls of greens, stirring them and sprinkling with a little salt. When all the greens are in, cover the pot and let them simmer until they are very soft.

Let cool a little. Stir in the potatoes, then purée in batches in a blender or food processor. Make sure it's really smooth. Add extra water if necessary to make it soupy.

Return to a clean pot, reheat gently, and season with salt and pepper to taste.

A little lime juice or lemon juice or apple cider vinegar added at the end will brighten the flavor. Or serve lemon wedges on the side.

Makes 8-10 cups of soup.

Nettle Noodles

Nettles are full of minerals and essential nutrients. They are a boon for the hair, skin, and nails. They nourish the kidneys and adrenals, help balance blood sugar, and are generally a great healing herb.

Unfortunately, they also have stingers, little hairs that cause irritation and sometimes even a small blister when you touch them.

I avoid the stings and get the benefits of nettles by infusing the dried herb (1 oz of dried nettles in 1 quart boiling water, let sit overnight, strain and drink).

But the other day Flora Bella had fresh nettles at their stand. I could not resist buying a bunch.

My mother told me of picking and cooking wild nettles - she said they tasted like wet flannel. But I was not to be deterred. I changed the texture of the leaves - and removed flannel overtones - by puréeing them. But green mush is not appealing either. So I made it into noodles, using the nettles in place of the spinach in a standard spinach pasta recipe.

The result was beautiful green noodles. They did not taste of nettles, nor did they sting as we ate them. We could almost tell ourselves we were eating health food.

The secret to not getting stung by fresh nettles is to grasp them firmly. I got only one sting, and it faded by the next day.

And now I've conquered my fear of nettles, next time I see them I'll try them in soup - but I'll make sure to blanch and purée them first.

Nettle Noodles
1 cup nettle leaves
2 tsp olive oil
2 tsp cold water
1 egg
1 cup flour

Cook the nettles in boiling water for 2 minutes until soft and tender. Drain and press out the water.

Purée them in the food processor. Add the olive oil and water and purée again. Add the egg and pulse it in a couple of times. Then add half the flour, process for a few seconds, then add the remaining flour and process until it forms a ball. (Sprinkle with a very little water if it won't come together. The liquid needed will depend on how well you drained your nettles.)

Turn the dough onto a floured surface and knead a few times. (You won't get stung.) Form a ball of the dough, cover it with an upside-down bowl, and let it stand 45 minutes.

Roll the dough into a large thin rectangle, approximately 12x16 inches. Let it air-dry for an hour until the surface is not sticky.

Roll it up loosely like a jelly-roll, and slice it into 1/2 inch thick noodles. Unroll the noodles and cook in a big pot of boiling salted water until just cooked, about 3-4 minutes. Drain and serve with your favorite sauce, or with a little olive oil and grated parmesan.

Serves 2