This morning was spectacular in my Danish garden – the sun, the birds, the flowers, the butterflies and an intoxicating smell of spring filled the air. I was out, bare feet in the grass breathing in spring and enjoying the early morning.

However, with spring and an abundance of spring flowers, come weeds – dandelion, stinging nettles and ground elder – they invade us and keep us busy all summer, trying to keep them under control….

But actually – weeds, such as stinging nettles are packed with goodness.  They have lots of nutrients, protein, calcium and iron among many other things, and they are so good for us  – read more here.

So I thought –if you can’t beat them, why not eat them!!!? 🙂

I covered my hands with plastic bags and picked some stinging nettles – the aroma of them were somewhat spicy, in a gentle kind of way. Which made me think that they would be amazing combined with grapefruits, in a smoothie.

Green Smoothie with Grapefruit and Stinging Nettles

A good handful of fresh stinging nettles

A bunch of sweet green grapes

One big grapefruit

One orange

A chunk of pineapple

water

Wear gloves or plastic bags on your hands while picking and cleaning the nettles, they will sting you! Wash them carefully before use.

Add all the ingredients to the blender with some ice cold water and blend into a smooth delicious powerful green drink.

 

It’s quite easy to become addicted to this drink – the combination is really good. The stinging nettles have this very special beautiful flavour – I loved it and I hope you will too!

Enjoy!

“Weeds are flowers too, once you get to know them” –  A.A. Milne

Read more about weeds:

Edible wild weed salad – by Organic Authority

10 weeds worth growing – by Care 2 

8 weeds you can eat –  by Organic Gardening.