Stinging nettles for dinner

My dinner this evening didn't cost me much to make. It consisted of stinging nettles from the horses pasture and rice.
The fresh shoots from stinging nettles can be treated pretty much the same way as spinach after it has beaten around in water for some minutes to take out most of the acid, which also is what gives the nettles their burning effect.
They don't taste of much by themselves so heavy spicing is a good idea.

I would really like to learn to make more use of the things that naturally grow around me in this way, I am picking up a little here and there along the way. It is also a great way to be prepared in case something goes really wrong, natural disaster, a breakdown of society, war or things like these.
Living in the peaceful part of the world that I do it is easy to forget that things might very fast not be as easy as they are today, being prepared is always a good thing. If nothing else it gives me the confidence that I will be able to life of the land in the case I have to.