Spring has near arrived. It was 80 degrees here in San Diego yesterday and the glorious sun slept me deep into the sand as I rest awake all the other pieces of winter that have yet to meet the sea’s shore. We must surely wonder, which ways the tide will go, as we move into this curious season of ripening, blossoming, and growing. The Earth, as Emerson once said, laughs in flowers.

Spring is the time when Mother Nature wakes back up and begins to sprout towards the sun. When the courage and stillness of winter has passed, and the time of celebration is yet anew. The qualities of Spring are warm, moist, and gentle. We rustle our hibernating souls and move outside, share more time with friends and loved ones, and open our hearts towards the Sun as the flowers do. The energy moves up, blooming, and flowering.

I’ve been experiencing an inner flowering of the heart that welcomes spring with the glee that she is. Like an awakened sorceress rising out of the sea- strong, courageous, powerful, at-ease, full of grace, contained…ready to live in a new light, new form even. There is something to be said for opening your heart in the face of fear because that’s when the medicine truly penetrates and adds to your riches. It’s always a part of you.

I imagine that’s what these seeds must experience in some proverbial way….the seed, safe and nestled in the dark womb of the soil-it doesn’t know where it’s going yet it simply begins to spiral up, towards the light. Possibilities abound, glory- perhaps, dangers-you can be sure. Yet it’s all it knows to do. As Sandy Denny sings, ‘Who knows how my love grows…’ it just grows and grows and grows!

In this celebratory swing into Spring, we are going to focus on the herb rosemary and craft some ~~~

Rosemary & Walnut Flour Crepes with wilted kale, apples, beets and squash.

This recipe is adapted from the fantastic Roost Blog. I highly recommend checking out Coco’s domestic mirth and exquisite photography.

Rosemary is the perfect kitchen pot herb. It has excellent anti-fungal, anti-septic, and anti-inflammatory properties. High in Vitamin A & E, it’s boasts healthy vision and strengthens capillaries in the skin. The two potent healing agents are caffeic acid and rosemarinic acid, offering its anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory benefits. Containing a slew of minerals, such as potassium, calcium iron, manganese, copper and magnesium promote all things nourishing. It’s been noted in clinical studies to also be a natural blocker of oestrogen which can lower the chance of breast cancer. It’s said to stimulate liver enzymes which inactivate the hormones that other synthetic drugs like Tamoxifen aim to do, without the harmful side effects.

These crepes are hearty yet not too heavy- simple yet delectable, and gloriously gluten-free.

RECIPE:

Rosemary & Walnut Flour Crepes (Makes 5 crepes)

1/2 cup organic walnuts

1/4 tsp sea salt
1 TBSP fresh organic rosemary, chopped
5 organic eggs
ghee/butter for greasing the pan

Pour walnuts into a blender and blend until finely ground (do not overdue it or you will get walnut butter!) Add the remaining ingredients to the walnut flour and blend until smooth.

Grease a 10 inch non-stick pan. Heat pan on high then reduce to medium. Add 1/3 cup of batter to the pan and swirl pan to coat entire surface with batter. Cook for about 1 minute or so and then flip using a spatula. Cook the other side for about 1 minute. Remove from pan.

*Before you add the batter make sure the pan is hot, you want to hear a sizzle sound as soon as the batter hits the pan. Otherwise your crepes will fall apart.

Repeat the process with remaining batter.

Wilted Greens, Apples and Squash

6 cups of baby kale
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 yellow onion, chopped
2 cups butternut squash and beets, chopped into small bite size pieces (I bought mine pre-chopped)
1 large apple, chopped
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar (I used part red wine vinegar)
1 TBSP ghee or butter

In a large sauté pan add ghee and heat over medium heat. Add chopped onion and sauté until translucent. Add kale and sauté until wilted. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute. Remove from pan and set aside in a bowl.

In the same pan add the butternut squash, beets, apple and 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar. Sauté for 15 minutes. Add the other 1/4 cup of balsamic and sauté for another 15 minutes or until the butternut squash and beets are thoroughly cooked.

Turn off heat. Add the greens and onion mixture back to the pan and mix.

To assemble, lay a crepe flat and spoon the filling in the center, fold the edges and enjoy!

I enjoyed this delicious meal in my friend Matt’s garden, OB ADOBE, given its location- Ocean Beach. It started as a plot thick with high grasses, weeds, and who else knows. With some tenacity and lots of hard work, they transformed it into this sweet little nook in the backyard, now teeming with sugar snap peas, ripening root veggies such as carrots and two different kinds of beets, swiss chard, and tons of arugula. So much arugula that I named the fiesty black cat that visits the garden come nightfall after it.

A garden does not have to be a big operation. Naturally, it needs lots of love and care, but what better to give that to then the food you nourish yourself. This garden is small, but not small at all-indeed it’s so lively and wonderful to spend time in! To see true soil again, eat snap peas off the vine, and sneak carrots on their way to ripening from under the soil’s canopy.

It certainly invokes childlike wonder, playfulness, and curiosity. I’d love to hear any inspired personal gardening projects below, your process, and how it’s nourished you. Stay tuned for our desert with a fantastic spring spice, Ginger to help melt any stagnancy from Winter’s slumber.

Ginger Cake with Homemade Rosemary-Apple Butter

on the way…

May you find your own joy and awe in this coming Spring, and most certainly may you enjoy crafting this sumptuous creation in your kitchen.

Merrily along,

Whitney

Rosemary & Walnut Flour Crepes With Wilted Kale, Apples, Beets & Squash

RECIPE:

Autumn Kitchari