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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.

Coconut Milk Panna Cotta with Ginger Cranberry Compote & Fresh Grapefruit | plant based magic via the sweet miscellany blog

These vegan coconut milk panna cottas are topped with a ginger cranberry compote and fresh surpremed ruby red grapefruit segments. They’re a great festive dessert option for the holidays, especially when served in dainty glasses. And, they’re under 10 ingredients!

Lately I’ve been feeling the need for simplicity in my food. At a time when there’s countless sources of stress present, simplicity is incredibly comforting and grounding. I posted something on instagram last week to the effect of recipe development feeling challenging lately as all I want is simplicity. I get tired of trying to “reinvent the wheel” with flavor combinations or cooking methods. I’ve caught myself several times recently wondering if a recipe was inventive or creative enough. But I’ve come to a point where going too over the top or complex all the time feels rather inauthentic.

So where does this dessert fit into this discussion? Well, I really love cranberries and fresh grapefruit this time of year. Their flavors and bright colors are most welcome as fare becomes heavier and more substantial. Once fresh cranberries start showing up in stores, I make easy jammy compotes to go along with my breakfast. I’ll spread it on toast, stir it into oatmeal, or eat it by the spoonful. As for grapefruits, I prefer ruby reds HANDS DOWN. I begin to crave their bitter and tart zing this time of year as they begin to ripen on the tree. Considering how much I love these two things, it wasn’t too great a leap to combine them in a recipe.

Since cranberries and grapefruit are rather tart, I wanted something creamy and mellow to balance them out. My brain went through a few wormholes before landing on panna cotta. Traditional panna cotta is made with heavy cream and gelatin but this version favors agar flakes and coconut milk for a delicious vegan alternative. To make these feel festive, I layered the compote and grapefruit segments on top of the panna cotta. And just like that you’ve got a multi-component holiday dessert that is vegan, gluten-free, and under 10 ingredients.

Coconut Milk Panna Cotta with Ginger Cranberry Compote & Fresh Grapefruit

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Author: Courtney West
Total Time: 40 minutes
Yield: 4 servings 1x
Diet: Vegan

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Description

Ingredients

Units Scale

1 can full fat coconut milk
1 1/2 tsp agar flakes
2 tbsp raw cane sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
12 oz fresh or frozen cranberries
1/3 cup fresh orange juice
1 1/2 inch piece of ginger, grated or finely minced
8–10 tbsp maple syrup (depending on how sweet you’d like the compote)
1 large ruby red grapefruit

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Instructions

Add the coconut milk, agar flakes, and sugar to a 2-quart pot (you want lots of extra room as the coconut milk bubbles up pretty high in the pan). Whisk everything together, then set the pot over medium-high heat. Once it begins to rapidly bubble, whisk it continuously for 2-3 minutes, then remove it from the heat. Stir in the vanilla extract. Divide the panna cotta mixture between 4 small glasses. Allow the glasses of panna cotta to sit for 1 hour at room temperature, then move them to the fridge to chill entirely, about 2-4 hours.

While the panna cotta is chilling, make the cranberry compote. Add the cranberries, orange juice, ginger, and maple syrup to a pot set over medium heat. Stir occasionally while the cranberries burst. Once most of the cranberries have burst and the sauce starts to thicken, turn the heat down a bit. Stir the sauce regularly until it becomes jammy and turns a deep red color. Remove the sauce from the heat. Allow it to cool about 30 minutes at room temperature before you move it to the fridge to chill completely.

To prepare your grapefruit, supreme it: cut the top and bottom off the grapefruit then set one of these flat ends cut side down on your work surface. Slice lengthwise down the grapefruit, removing strips of skin until you have removed all of the skin and pith. Using a sharp knife, carefully cut segments of the grapefruit out from in between the white membranes. Do this over a bowl to catch the juice. Once you’ve removed all of the segments, squeeze any remaining juice from the membranes into the bowl. Discard the membranes.

To assemble: Spoon a layer of cranberry compote into each glass of panna cotta. You can put as much or as little as you want. Top the compote with 2-3 grapefruit segments and a spoon or two of the juice. Serve chilled.

Makes 4 panna cotta plus extra compote.

Notes

If you’d like to elevate the recipe a bit, you cab opt for a vanilla bean in place of the extract. Slit it down the center then scrape out the seeds and add them to the pot along with the bean at the beginning of the recipe. Make sure to remove the bean before pouring the panna cotta mixture into glasses!
If you’re not a grapefruit fan, feel free to replace it with any kind of orange you like.

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Category: dessert