Beet and Nettle Broth
This mineral-rich, vegan broth offers many of the benefits of traditional bone broth! As we slow down, herbs and plants you grow from Harlequin’s Gardens can nourish you this winter. Many thanks to Mitten Lowe at Journey to Wellness for the recipe.
A recipe we make every winter, this broth provides minerals and more from common stinging nettle, Urtica dioica. Nettle has been used for centuries for joint health, eczema, arthritis, gout, anemia and seasonal allergy symptoms. Stinging nettle is high in amino acids, protein, flavonoids, and bone-building minerals like iron, calcium, magnesium, potassium, silica and zinc. Nettle contains vitamins and minerals that can help keep your bones strong (Gupta, 2021), and it is one of the greatest sources of vitamin K.
Stinging Nettles, Urtica dioica
Nettle is an all-too easy perennial to grow. In the right place, nettle spreads to form large patches — just what you’re looking for if you’re drying and preserving this herb for use in broth and tea, or for fibers to make cloth. Plant any time after frost, water in for the first year, and let it go. Nettle can take full sun or partial shade and, though native to moist areas, can take drought (although it appreciates some moisture during the hottest parts of the season). Be sure to harvest leaves in mid-to-late spring, before the abundant seeds appear.
Beet, Beta vulgaris
The beet, Beta vulgaris, is full of folate (vitamin B9), manganese, potassium, iron and vitamin C, and has been used medicinally since ancient times for blood flow, to lower blood pressure, and for increased exercise performance. You can plant beet seeds and transplants two weeks before the average last frost date, and even earlier with protection like a low tunnel.
Try this winter healing broth!
Ingredients:
- 8-12 cups water (must cover your veggies with some room!)
- 1 tbsp coconut oil
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 onion onion quartered (with skins)
- 1 bunch green onion chopped
- 2 garlic bulbs smashed
- 1 yellow or orange pepper roughly chopped (with seeds)
- 2 inch piece of ginger roughly chopped (with skin)
- 4 cups beet greens (can substitute other greens)
- 4 large or 6-8 medium beets quartered (with skins)
- 3-4 cups mixed chopped vegetables and peelings (I used carrot peelings, red cabbage, fresh mushrooms, leeks and celery)
- 2 small potatoes quartered (with skins)
- 2 small or one medium sweet potato quartered
- 1 tbsp peppercorns
- 1 tbsp dried oregano
- 2 tbsp ground turmeric
- 1 tbsp coconut aminos
- 1 whole nutmeg
- 1 tbsp whole coriander seeds
- 2 bay leaves
- 1/8 – 1/4 cup nutritional yeast flakes for extra flavor and vitamins
- 1/4 cup dried nettle or 1 cup fresh nettle
- Himalayan pink or sea salt to taste
Instructions:
- Simply add everything to a large pot or Instant Pot. If you are preparing this broth on the stove top, bring to a boil. Simmer covered for 2-3 hours. In the Instant Pot, use the manual setting for 80 minutes.
- Once everything has been cooked down, strain the liquid into a large bowl using a fine mesh strainer.
- Serve immediately with Himalayan pink or sea salt, or cool for later. You can also freeze in mason jars for future use. Be sure to cool completely in the fridge before freezing.
Recipe courtesy Mitten Lowe at Journey to Wellness.