Paleo Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp, the Healthier Version!

I’ve always loved rhubarb season. It signifies the beginning of summer—the heat is still bearable; school is coming to a close and our gardens haven’t been completely overtaken by weeds. High hopes, am I right? Rhubarb grows all season, but harvesting it before it goes to seed is the key. We planted a sizeable patch in our permanent garden and it grows bigger every year (I cut down the seeds and toss them back into the garden, which makes for a mess, but I’d rather more rhubarb than weeds).

This recipe, adapted from paleorunningmomma.com, hits the spot. I could eat an entire rhubarb crisp, so making it paleo makes me feel a little better. The key to this recipe is using Victoria rhubarb, or a red variety, rather than a green variety, known as Riverside Giant or Turkish. The internet tells me that there is no significant difference in taste, but I’d beg to differ. A little tip if you’re considering trying a paleo diet for the first time—some of these ingredients are super overpriced when you head to your local grocery store, so I’d recommend a quick trip to Costco if you’re into going full hog.

So here we go:

Ingredients

Topping:

1/4 cup almonds

1/4 cup of walnuts

1/2 cup unsweetened coconut flakes

1/4 cup + 1 TSP coconut sugar, heaping

1 cup almond flour

1/3 cup refined coconut oil, room temperature

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

½ tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp Maldon salt, sea salt flakes

Filling:

1 lb rhubarb stalks, diced, preferably Victoria Rhubarb

1 lb QC strawberries, hulled and halved

1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons coconut sugar

2 Tablespoons + 1 teaspoon arrowroot starch

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Let’s start with the topping, since it needs a little time to chill before it goes into the oven. I like this one because it really looks like a traditional crisp topping.

Add almonds and unsweetened coconut flakes into a food processor: pulse gently in order to get a good consistency.
Add in your almond flour, coconut sugar, vanilla and cinnamon, leaving the coconut oil until the very end.
Mix the coconut oil by hand, slowly working it into the crumble.
Pop the topping into the fridge to cool down until you finish the filling.

So, let’s get into the filling. Now’s the time to preheat your oven to 350ºC.

Begin by chopping up your rhubarb into ½ inch pieces (you can go smaller, but definitely no bigger!). Strawberries should be hulled and cut in half—we use fresh Quebec strawberries, right when they come into season. We also make a delicious strawberry chia jam too. A pound of rhubarb should look like this, so be sure to weigh your amounts. We use a small scale to make sure that our amounts are always consistent.

A pound of strawberries will look like this, give or take a wee bit when you hull them:

2. Add in your sugar, we use coconut sugar, but feel free to experiment with date sugar or maple sugar. I haven’t had a chance to try it with date sugar yet, but looking forward to it.

3. Drop in your vanilla. Finally, add your arrowroot starch and make sure that everything is well mixed.

4. Pour your filling into your pie plate, followed by your topping, which should be well chilled y now. Cook your crisp for about 45 minutes, or until it starts to bubble.