Sunday veggie surprise

Tonight the mister and I made an unusual selection of vegetable side dishes after our trip to the Ballard Farmer's Market. We made:



Fiddlehead Ferns

and



Nettles.

Both have to be parboiled or blanched before use. The ferns need to be softened a little bit before sauteing and the nettles will sting you unless you cook them. Cooking kills the little hairs that cause the sting.

I sauteed them (separately) in butter, just to get the real taste of the plants. The larger fiddleheads were a touch bitter, but had a cleave like asparagus. The nettles were delish. I could eat those all day long. Mild and fresh tasting, nettles are just full of vitamins and minerals and the young fresh shoots are often eaten in soups and used to fill ravioli. I had never had Fiddleheads before and I can imagine how good they would be sauteed with morel mushrooms (another great spring veggie).

Even though we had gross weather this weekend, the fact that we were able to enjoy foods foraged from our local area made the gray and rain seem a little less depressing.