Nettle Salt

It's Spring in Ohio and Nettle is showing off its first, dark green leaves. 
Besides gathering some with careful attention or gloves to make fortifying Green Soup, I like to make Nettle Salt. What an easy way to make this powerful herb a part of our daily diet. Another plus is that it will keep forever. Well, it would if we didn't use it up so fast on popcorn, soups and stews or even pasta dishes. 
The process is simple and straightforward. Gather and clean your Nettle, strip the leaves and place them in the food processor. Add salt, process it for a bit then lay it out to dry. With the oven light on it takes about a day to dry it completely. For herb salts you don't even need a dehydrator, drying happens fast. 

You'll need:
1 part Nettle
1 ( 1 1/2) parts Sea Salt or Himalayan salt or whatever salt is dear to your heart
Food processor
Paper towel and cookies sheet to spread out on and dry

Why Nettle? You may ask. 
Nettle is deeply nourishing for the tired to the bone person. Or for anyone, really. This deep colored, green tasting herb ( reminds me of Spirulina) is full of minerals: Calcium, Iron, Copper, Magnesium just to list a few. That green color signals a good amount of chlorophyl. It's a diuretic herb ( makes you pee) but unlike synthetic drugs, as it helps you get rid of stagnant fluid build up, it won't depletes your mineral sources in the process. 
In my mother land, Hungary, old folks used fresh stems of Nettle to practice so called self flagellation: hitting the arthritic parts of the body with this uric acid containing medicinal. Yes, it stings. Hence the name: Stinging Nettle. However, applying it topically to sore or numb body parts will bring much needed circulation (healing) to the affected area.