Thursday, April 03, 2008



Rhubarb and Strawberry Crisp and Mystery Item

I woke up early this morning and decided to hold off on the gym, so that I could make a special treat for K's breakfast. Early in our relationship, K betrayed his weakness for anything with the term 'crisp' in its title. He made short work of every Apple Crisp I put together and was salivating at the mere idea of rhubarb season. So, my screams of "Rhubarb for Sale, Rhubarb for Sale" when driving through a cute town near the German boarder were completely accepted by the driver, and he was more than complying with my suggestion that we make a quick pit stop.

I washed the rhubarb off and got to work. I admit to never having made The Crisp with this ingredient, and rather than going whole hog on my initial attempt, I decided to have the dish co-hosted by some of the decadent strawberries I picked up at last night's market. I added a wee bit of sugar to both the fruit and the crispy crust, perhaps I should have been a little more indulgent, but a girl has to keep her vegancowboy svelte. In the end, all was well, and K woke up to a nummy breakie, while I noshed on the copious fruit options that can be found tucked in various food pockets throughout our kitchen.


Just For You Rhubarb, Ginger and Strawberry Crisp
Ingredients:
-1/2 pound of rhubarb (cut into 1 cm cubes)
-1/2 pound of strawberries
-1/2 tablespoon of grated ginger
-1 teaspoon of orange zest
-2 tablespoons of sugar
Crust
-1 cup oats
-1/2 cup of flour
-2 tablespoons of applesauce
-vanilla

I mixed the fruit ingredients together, laid it in a piece of crockery, crumbled the crust ingredients together with my finger tips and added it to the top of the fruit mixture. I placed it in a warmed oven (180) for 45 minutes.

I guess it was good, he finished the rest for lunch-time desert.

I am using the leftover rhubarb to make preserves for the week to come. I added some blueberries, flax seed, 1/2 cup of brown sugar and remaining rhubarb (about 1 pound) to about 1 cup of boiling water. It has been on the stove for about 45 minutes. I plan on leaving it there until it gets to where I want it (thick and sweet).

Now: I found this ingredient at the market yesterday. Any fancy pants out there want to take a guess at what it is?

13 comments:

J said...

MMMMM! That crisp looks so good!

I'm gonna have to guess plantains on the secret ingredient question, but not sure....

Anonymous said...

Dried figs? Overripe bananas? Hmm.

Your crisp looks fab!!

Anonymous said...

Yum - I love rhubarb!

I was going to guess the mystery ingredient was plantains, like Jennifer... but now that I look at the picture again I'm going to guess it's a very close-up shot of vanilla beans?

VeganCowGirl said...

Thanks ladies!

I have to say that Steph is the closest so far.

A hint - its not in the banana family.

:)

Jenni (aka Vegyogini) said...

Those look like carob pods!

Anonymous said...

Those look like tamarinds.
And the crisp looks too yummy...

Anonymous said...

Ahhhh!!! Must be carob - you guys are smarter than me!

Lori- the Pleasantly Plump Vegan said...

crisps ARE my favorite desserts.

Lindsay (Happy Herbivore) said...

lickin my lips!

ChocolateCoveredVegan said...

I think I would be a sucker for rhubarb crisp too! I've never had rhhubarb though. I'll have to look out for it at the store.

Maggie M. said...

Ooo I love crisp. And rhubarb. This is making me hungry.

Bianca said...

I was going to guess dried chipotles...but everyone else seems to agree on carob.

How sweet of you to cook a yummy breakfast for your man and then let him eat it all! I'm way too selfish to do that. I'd have to have at least half for myself...maybe more.

Veggie said...

Can't wait to make some spring rhubarb crisp, won't be long now.