Chickweed and Potato Soup

Colander full of chickweed tops (further down the stalk the chickweed gets fibrous)

3 large peeled potatoes

Black pepper

Chicken or vegetable stock

Salt to taste

Olive oil

Knob of butter

Heat your olive oil in a deep frying pan or saucepan if you don't have one, once the oil is hot, put your chickweed tops into the oil and then add the butter and stir until butter has melted.

Turn your pan down to minimum or take off the heat and peel or mandolin your potatoes into the mixture so they are really thin, you can also slice them really finely with a knife if you really want. Basically, the thin pieces of potato release more starch, giving the soup a better texture (yeah I listened to Gordon Ramsay...once).

Stir the potatoes, don't burn them! Then add your stock.

Salt and pepper to taste and cook for about 5 minutes. I love the artichoke-y taste you get with just cooked potatoes, that way you don't get that floury taste that can occur if you overcook them.

Blend and serve with some warm crusty bread and butter.

This is easy to make vegan, just don't use butter and add a little extra olive oil for richness and use vegan vegetable stock cubes.

This recipe is perfect if you love watercress and potato soup, watercress is extortionate so it's a free substitute. Chickweed is super abundant and grows all year round so this soup is a good one to have in the recipe book.

Basically I have been having a little chuckle to myself as I have been reading up on the health benefits, clearly from a dodgy source because it tried telling me that chickweed cures rabies....yeah right. I'm pretty sure if you've got rabies you're not gonna be out foraging for chickweed and more preparing to die. 

However! It does have some great health benefits, including aiding in weight loss, anti inflammatory, aids digestion and applied to the skin as a compress can speed up healing and prevent against infection.