Dinner at Baba Yaga's

We got nettles from our neighborhood coop since they were one of the first fresh greens available for the spring. We had read rave reviews and wanted to try cooking them, but they were totally scary. They're all pointy and long-leafed and the stalks are covered with hairy spines whose burn I clearly remember from hiking trips when I was little. Maybe eating them is something like the thrill of eating fugu? Seriously, though, I had a bit of a psychosomatic tingle as I downed my first bite, but the rest went down easily. Sauteed in oil and garlic, they tasted kind of oystery and oceany. Hil thought they were too strong but I enjoyed the flavor. The next time we cooked them, though, we blanched them and then made them into a milder pesto with ricotta, pine nuts, garlic.

We ate them with my best miso soup ever: red and white miso with button mushrooms, sliced leeks, tofu, and bits of kombu.