Springalishious

Next time you are searching for the perfect meal for breakfast, lunch, brunch, dinner or any snack in between I have the one word solution to what your tummy is craving…

Crepes!

Spring is here and whether you are enjoying a fresh drizzly day in New York or soaking up the sunshine and warmth in California your palate is more than likely starting to crave fresh, colorful veggies. Rosy plump tomatoes, crisp spinach, vibrant bell peppers and flavorful herbs have been dancing around in my head for weeks tempting me to find a way for them to mingle together in a most delectable way. I finally gave into them this last weekend and decided the best way to serve this flavorful combination of ingredients would be to jumble them together and bundle them up in the simplest and most delicate and delicious of casings. The classic French crepe. You can use whichever crepe recipe you fancy, if you are gluten free (like me!) you will find the following gluten free crepe recipe quite handy. As one who has consumed both glutenous and non glutenous crepes taste wise there is not much difference between the two. With crepes what is of upmost importance flavor wise are your fillings and as long as those are scrumptious you really can’t go wrong.

So, without further adieu here are my recipes for a most satisfying and delicious meal of spring crepes.

Gluten Free Crepes

Ingredients

½ cup tapioca starch

½ cup chestnut flour, sweet white rice flour, finely ground brown rice flour or any combination of the three afore mentioned flours.

1 cup milk

2 eggs

a pinch of salt

1 T butter melted

For dessert crepes

If you want to add an extra something special to your dessert crepe batter substitute vanilla soy milk for the milk or add a teaspoon of vanilla flavoring and a teaspoon of sugar to the batter.

Directions

Using an emersion blender or a regular blender, mix until batter is smooth and then pop the batter in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to chill. Once the mix is chilled, heat a crepe pan or large skillet over medium heat and when ready spray the pan with pam or coat with a bit of oil or butter. I usually make my crepe mix in a giant liquid measuring cup that holds 6 cups so I can pour the mix directly from this into the hot pan using one hand and hold the hot pan in the other hand so I can immediately swirl the liquid in the pan to form a round thin pancake shape. Let this cook for about a minute till the crepe is a bit bubbly on top and when you peak at the underside it has just started to turn golden a smidge. When its ready flip it onto the other side, let it cook for about 30 seconds more and your crepe is done. Do this until all your crepes are made and you are now ready to stuff them with any delicious fillings your heart desires! From savory to sweet here are a few of my personal favorite crepe creations.

Something Savory

Swirl crepe with a generous amount of homemade pesto and top with roasted red peppers, slices of fresh tomato, spinach, crumbled feta and dried Italian herbs. Wrap the crepe up like a burrito and then reheat it in the skillet for a minute or two so the cheese gets all melty and the outside crisps up a bit. Yummers!

Something Sweet

There are few things more scrumptious than a crepe swirled with Nutella and sprinkled with fresh strawberries. Wrap this heavenly combination up and heat in a pan till the chocolate starts to melt just slightly. If you want something even more decadent serve this along side a scoop of vanilla bean gelato.