Week 2 (Part 1): Strawberry-Rhubarb Crisp

A week into the season and I'm up to my eyeballs in leafy vegetables. Red leaf, Boston, and romaine lettuce. Kale. Spinach. More baby beet greens. Not to mention most of a head of green leaf lettuce that we didn't finish last week.

Folks, we're having salad. A lot of salad. And something with kale. So let's start with dessert first.

I had been eying a crisp recipe for a couple of weeks, and with three fresh quarts of CSA strawberries this week (along with all of those greens), I had no qualms about putting a few of the berries to an experiment. The twist with this recipe is that it uses oil, rather than butter, to form the crumb topping. That makes it dairy free without the use of stick margarine. Another plus is that the yield is only four or five servings, making it a right-sized dessert for our household. In spite of all the salad we're eating, we really don't need too much dessert around the house to tempt us.

Strawberry-Rhubarb Crisp (Dairy Free)

(Adapted from a Stop & Shop supermarket recipe. Best served warm. The crumb topping loses its "crispness" as it cools.)

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup dark brown sugar, lightly packed

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

2 Tbsp canola oil

1/2 lb rhubarb (2 to 3 stalks), sliced into 1/2-inch pieces

1 Tbsp orange juice

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 Tbsp cornstarch

2 cups sliced fresh strawberries

Combine flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon in a small bowl. Stir in oil with a fork until the mixture forms crumbs. Set aside.

Place the rhubarb and orange juice in a medium saucepan. Cook over medium heat just until the rhubarb begins to soften, about 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Combine the granulated sugar and cornstarch, and stir into the rhubarb. Mix in the strawberries.

Pour the fruit mixture into a 1-quart baking dish. Sprinkle with the reserved crumbs. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes, until bubbly. Serves 4.