Nettle Oxymel Salad

This is not a fancy recipe, but it IS a stellar salad - so simple, and so delicious. I first made this salad to have with soft boiled eggs, cooked over a rocket stove to celebrate a friend's retirement, outdoor picnic style. It might be a combo of the fresh herbs, the sweetness from the nettle oxymel, and the salty gomasio, but really I could eat this salad daily (which I basically am right now). 

An oxymel is apple cider vinegar with honey and additions, in my case nettles. Fire tonic, with ginger and garlic and whatever else, is another oxymel. You basically soak the herbs in the vinegar/honey concoction for some time, infusing extra health benefits, so that you can sip on the health promoting tincture, or in my case use it as salad dressing. 

 

 

 

 

Nettle Oxymel

• 1 lb fresh nettles, chopped
  
• 1 1/2 quarts apple cider vinegar
• 1 pint honey

Combine all ingredients in two quart jars, submerging nettles below the surface. The original recipe recommends chopping your nettles, but I forgot that and used whole ones. I think chopping will impart more flavor, so I'd do that next time. Let sit for 2 weeks, then strain and bottle. Refrigerate. *Since I did not chop my nettles, I steamed them with some red onion and ate them afterwards. They were deliciously vinegar-y, with some sweetness. 

My salad was a combo of some lattuces, arugula, dandelion greens, mint, dill, parsley, and tarragon. I tossed the greens with the nettle oxymel and olive oil, and then doused the whole thing with a hearty shake of nettle gomasio. The salad is GREAT with eggs (with more gomasio) or just as is.