herbs Archives | Page 13 of 19

a simple winter season sip + a tea meditation | plant-based magic via the sweet miscellany blog

Though I’ve been using herbs as a support system in my life over the past several years, this year I decided to dive deeper. I began the year reading books by Rosemary Gladstar, Rosalee de la Foret, and Paul Beyerl. I took copious notes on the herbs I read about and added my own after noticing how I experienced them in my body. I ordered several varieties of medicinal herb seeds to experiment with in my garden. I wanted to cultivate a deeper relationship with them by noticing how they responded to various temperatures, the soil they liked, and how much sun and water they required. And I wanted to be able to watch them grow from seed, observing every stage of life. Over the course of the year I began to notice how my needs changed with the seasons and what herbal allies worked best. And in doing all of this I realized how much there is to continue learning about. To continue experimenting with. To continue evolving and shifting.

One of my biggest herbal allies this year has been tulsi. I learned throughout the course of the year that it grows prolifically in my garden if given the chance. And every time I’m outside in the garden, if the breeze blows and I’m down wind from the tulsi, it carries the uniquely spicy, floral, and licorice-like scent to my nose. And it makes me pause, close my eyes, and smile. In the warmer months I used tulsi fresh as it was abundant, making sun teas, hydrosol, and even adding it to my food. As much as I was using fresh I was also harvesting to dry for use in the colder months.

Aside from really enjoying the taste and smell, tulsi has been a lovely support for my nervous system. It encourages me to slow down, check in with my breath, and cultivate presence. It gives me a boost when I’m feeling run-down, and it allows me to relax when my nerves are a bit frayed. Along with lovely chamomile, tulsi is the herb I’ve been turning to most as we move towards winter and the holiday season.

Since this time of year seems to always be accompanied by stress, I wanted to offer this simple herbal tea to sip on as well as a short meditation you can do while making (and enjoying) the tea. The goal of the meditation is to help you feel a bit more grounded and present while the herbs in the tea work on your nervous and digestive system. The tea meditation can be done any time of the day you feel you need the support. Though I have a specific tea blend listed below, please feel free to do this with any tea blend you like.

Winter Season Sip + Tea Meditation

for one serving you’ll need: 1 1/2 tsp dried tulsi and 1 1/2 tsp dried chamomile

Carefully select your mug. Maybe you choose a favorite that is aesthetically pleasing or one that feels right in your hands. Add the tea/herbs to your teapot (I tend to use a small french press). Close your eyes and smell the tea. Notice what thoughts or emotions might bubble up. Can you think of at least 3 words to describe the scent?

Set your water to boil. While the water is coming to a boil, close your eyes and notice the pace of your breath. Inhale, exhale. After five or so breaths, begin to even out the breath, making both inhale and exhale of equal length. Continue this even rate of breath. Allow the sound of the whistling kettle to draw your awareness to the present moment and open your eyes.

Pour 8 to 12 oz of the just-boiled water over your tea. Set a timer for the steep time of your tea (for this blend it will steep 10-15 minutes). As the tea steeps, close your eyes once again and this time check in with your body. Relax your shoulders. Release any clenching in your jaw, glutes, fingers, or toes. Can you feel for the back of your head balanced over the back of your heart and the back of your heart balanced over the back of your pelvis? Can you feel your feet evenly weighted on the floor, from front to back and right to left? Stand with ease. The longer you stand imagine your feet like roots, providing support for your body and connecting you to the stability and nourishment of the earth. Yield to the gentle sway that begins to happen in your body. As the timer sounds, open your eyes.

Strain your tea and pour it into the mug you’ve chosen. Sweeten or amend it as needed, then find a cozy spot to sit. Allow yourself the time and space to enjoy your tea without distractions. Savor each sip, noticing the flavors and how they may evolve as they hit your tongue. After the last sip, move on with the rest of your day.

Chamomile & Anise Hyssop Apple Crumble | plant based magic via the sweet miscellany blog

This vegan and gluten free apple crisp is flavored with chamomile and anise hyssop which yields a lovely amalgam of floral, sweet, and licorice notes. The warm spices in the oat crumble lend a subtle contrast and coziness to the dish.

I can’t begin to describe the dreary magic that is an apple orchard on a foggy fall morning. In order to be fully immersed in the experience, I left my camera in the car so you’ll have to settle for words. The smell was a mixture of damp earth and fermenting apples. The apple trees were in lengthy rows offering up plenty of space to wander, pick, and stand in awe. Through the fog you could see the reds, golds, and burnt umber of the other trees on the horizon. The ripe apples literally fell into your hand when you reached for them, letting you know they had served their time on the tree and were ready to be enjoyed.

I brought back most of the apples I picked (all 10 lbs of them) in my carry-on. I knew I wanted to make something special so I settled on a crumble studded with chamomile, anise hyssop, cloves, and cardamom. Chamomile, oats, and apples are one of my favorite combinations so I thought it a befitting match for my hand-picked Cortland and Crispin apples. The chamomile and anise hyssop (grown in my garden) create a lovely amalgam of floral, sweet, and licorice flavors. The warm spices went into the oat crumble so that you get a lovely contrast and that familiar sense of coziness they impart.

The good thing about this crumble is that you can make it as sweet (or not) as you want depending on whether you want to serve it for dessert or breakfast. This is reflected in the recipe below: use 2 tbsp of maple syrup in the filling and in the crumble if you want more of a breakfast-worthy dish. Or 4tbsp of syrup if you want more of a dessert vibe. I used a combination of Crispin and Cortland apples for this but any sweet-tart apple would work, i.e. Pink Lady, Northern Spy, Honeycrisp, Granny Smith. The apples in the photos and in the crumble were picked at Russell Orchards in Ipswich, Massachusetts.

Chamomile & Anise Hyssop Apple Crumble

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Author: Courtney West
Total Time: 45-50 minutes
Yield: 6-8 servings
Diet: Vegan

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Description

Ingredients

for the filling:

7–8 cups diced apples
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
2 tbsp arrowroot
2–4 tbsp maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla
2 tbsp dried chamomile
1 tablespoon dried anise hyssop leaves & flowers

for the crumble topping:

2 cups oats, divided
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp ground cardamom
good pinch of salt
4 tbsp room temp/solid coconut oil or softened vegan butter
2–4 tbsp maple syrup, depending on how sweet you’d like it

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Instructions

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Add the apples, lemon juice, arrowroot, maple syrup, vanilla, chamomile, and anise hyssop to a bowl. Toss to mix then spoon into a 2-quart baking dish.

Put 1 cup of the oats into a blender or food processor and pulse until you have a coarse looking flour. Add this to a bowl along with the remaining oats, salt, and the spices. Mix, then add the coconut oil and maple syrup. Mash the coconut oil and syrup into the oat mixture until it begins to hold together in clumps and looks crumbly. Sprinkle this mixture evenly over the surface of your apples.

Bake your crumble for 35 to 40 minutes or until the juices from the apples are bubbling and the oats are a deep golden color. Cool 5 minutes before serving.

Feel free to serve with a drizzle of cashew butter, freshly whipped coconut cream, or vegan vanilla ice cream if you like!

Notes

If you don’t have access to dried anise hyssop leaves/flowers, you can use a teaspoon of ground fennel seed or ground star anise.

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 35-40 minutes
Category: dessert