Bosnian Pita with Nettle Leaves ..or, Spring in My Birth Town

For years and years I was dreaming about visiting to my birth town in spring. I wanted to see all my backyard (fruit)trees in full bloom. A lot of beautiful memories from this garden I carry with me; climbing trees pretending to be all sorts of super heroes from that time, running barefoot through deep snow every night in winter time to 'wash our feet' as my father would suggest, having street children for fruit harvest in autumn...

And there I was, with my open hart, breathing in every little scent that could recall beautiful memories. I was sad that I couldn't find some of my favorites. A lot of them were damaged during the war. But, little trees that I left 19 years ago, weren't babies any more, are still there offering beautiful blooms in spring, shades in Summer, fruit in autumn and most memorable 'crystal' scenes in winter, when rain and low temperatures coat them in ice and put on an unforgettable art display.

Spring is also time when certain 'natures' food is available. After long winter, our body is craving some highly nutritious food, like Stinging Nettle, for example.



Stinging nettle (Urtica Dioica)has a flavour similar to spinach when cooked and is rich in vitamins A, C, iron, potassium, manganese, and calcium. Soaking nettles in water or cooking will remove the stinging chemicals from the plant, which allows them to be handled and eaten without incidence of stinging.

Extracts can be used to treat arthritis, anemia, hay fever, kidney problems, dandruff, prostate problems, and pain.

Recipe:

Harvest Nettle (young tips only) using thick gloves. Boil water in pot, put nettle inside and cook for a couple of minutes. Drain and cut finely (like spinach). Oil and salt according to your taste; Ricotta or Fetta can be added and mixed.

Follow my recipe for 'Bosnian Pita'. Enjoy!









Pita od Žare/Koprive ili Proljece u mom rodnom gradu



Godinama sam mastala o tome da posjetim moje rodno mjesto u proljece. Zeljela sam da vidim moje dvoriste, moje vocke sa rascvjetalim krosnjama.

Mnogo lijepih memorija iz moje baste nosim sa sobom; Penjanje po drvecu, zamisljajuci razne scene iz tadasnjih filmova (Sandokan!),zimsko trcanje bosonog svako vece kroz snijeg 'da operemo noge' kako bi moj tata rekao, sazivanje djece iz komsiluka kada je vrijeme berbi...

I stigla sam... sa sirom otvorenim srcem, udisuci svaki najmanji miris koji je mogao probuditi uspomene. Na zalost, par mojih najdrazih stabala nisam pronasla. Stradali su u ratu; ali, mlada stabla koja sam ostavila prije 19 godina vise nisu bili 'bebe'. Porasli su da svojim' cvjetovima krase dvoriste u proljece, pruze hlad ljeti, a zimi, kada kisa i hladnoca udruze svoje moci i daju svoju umjetnicku postavku, zablistaju u svom punom 'kristalnom' sjaju.

Proljece je vrijeme kada je odredjena 'prirodna' hrana pristupacna. Poslije duge zime, tijelima je potrebno dosta vitamina i minerala koji se mogu naci u prirodi; npr - izdanci zare / koprive.



Zara / kopriva (Urtica Dioica)Ima ukus slican spinatu. Bogata je vitaminima A i C, te zeljezom, kalcijumom, fosforom i manganom. Kuhanjem listova otklanjate hemikalije koje izazivaju osjecaj opeklina na kozi (tkivu).

Koristi se u lijecenju artritisa, anemije problema sa prostatom i bubrezima, otklanja perut, ublazava bol...

Recept:

Uberite mlade vrhove zare, koristeci deblje gumene rukavice. Prokljucajte vodu u serpi, ubacite zaru i kuhajte par minuta. Ocijedite i isjeckajte kao sto biste spinat. Dodajte ulje i soli po ukusu; obicni sir ili feta mogu biti pomijesani po zelji.

Slijedite moj recept 'Bosansku pitu'Uzivajte u zdravoj i ukusnoj hrani!