Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp

Strawberries are plentiful and the farmers market is filled with them.  They are so delicious right now.  They are sweet + juicy and they are just perfect.  I have never really worked with rhubarb, but it jumped out at me.  And then I thought, rhubarb + strawberries, after all, it is almost summer.



Summer...so looking forward to summer.  Not looking forward to it in the same way that my kids are.  I am looking forward to the lack of structure; no homework, grilling and eat outside, swimming, and long days filled with picnics at the beach, bike rides to the ice cream store and lazy mornings.


This past weekend was the official kick-off to summer.  We packed a lot into the 4 day weekend; the beach, bike riding, bbq's with family and friends and plenty of eating.  Summer is going to be a lot more of this plus lots more!




Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp
adapted from many different places

iingredients:

filling:
5 cups strawberries, stemmed + quartered
3 stalks rhubarb, cut into 1/2" pieces
1/2 cup sugar
3 Tbls. cornstarch
zest of one orange
2 Tbls. juice from the orange
splash of balsamic

topping:
1 cup butter, cold
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/4 cup chopped almonds, toasted
1 Tbls. cinnamon
pinch of salt

directions:
• preheat oven to 350*
• for the filling: combine all the ingredients in a bowl.  toss well.  put in a wide, shallow baking dish
• for the topping: in the bowl of an electric mixer with the whisk attachment mix the sugar + cold butter.  Add the flour, oats, cinnamon, salt and mix well.  Add almonds and whisk 1-2 times.
• pour topping all over strawberry mixture.  put on baking sheet and bake for about 20-25 minutes or until the the filling is hot and bubbly and topping is crisp and light brown.