You can thank my Grandma Edith, and her green mixing bowl for this delicious Strawberry Chia Rhubarb Crisp!
Inspired by this month’s Recipe ReDux theme, Treasured Cookware, I used my beloved green Bauer Pottery vintage mixing bowl that I inherited from my Grandma Edith to mix together two springtime treasures, strawberries and rhubarb, with pure maple syrup and chia seeds, then did a little more mixing to top the fruity mixture off with my favorite gluten-free crisp topping.
Treasured Cookware~Share a story of classic cookware, and a healthy recipe to go with it. Some of us will be celebrating Mother’s Day next month, but it’s more than once a year that many of us cook with a pan, a wooden spoon or another piece of cookware passed on to use from the kitchens of our favorite relatives. Let’s see what you can cook up with your treasured kitchen tool!
Of course I am going to share my Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp with you very soon, but first let’s chat a little bit about the woman I was named after, because she was truly quite an amazing woman, and someone that REALLY enjoyed a good dessert!
Grandma Edith…
- Every morning began with buttered toast and coffee with milk, followed by a cup of cranberry juice mid-day, a banana and apple cider vinegar mixed with honey every afternoon, and evenings were ended with a well-balanced meal. She was very proud of her slender figure, and ate “just enough” to maintain her weight. Unless there was dessert.
- She worked 2 jobs for a long time after her husband, my Grandpa VJ, died, and was still working as the President of Precision Wire Products at the age of 93 when she passed away.
- Family was EVERYTHING to her, and to this day, her children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren try to celebrate holidays together when ever we can. We even celebrated her 100th birthday together, even though she was only at the party in spirit. My cousin had just started dating her current husband at the time, and he mentioned to her that he was excited to meet her grandmother, only to realize that Grandma Edith wouldn’t actually be blowing out the candles at her birthday party.
- She lived smack dab in the middle of the LA Riots of 1992. She also had a sign on her house that said “This house has been robbed 3 times. There is nothing left to take.” Clearly she wasn’t scared of anything or anyone.
- I don’t recall every hearing her complain. Not once. Not about anything.
- She took me and my cousins to see Romper Room when we were little. Because I had come all the way from San Diego for the taping of the show, I was invited up on stage to throw the bouncy ball around. My cousins, who lived in LA, were not invited up on the stage. They were very jealous.
- She had a fabulous mind {perhaps due to her healthy diet???}, and I swear she was more mentally “with it” at the age of 93, then I was in my 30’s.
- Did I mention she
liked loved dessert??? Her strict diet would go out the door anytime there was a holiday or special occasion to celebrate. Buffets were the best, and she would always have one of every piece of pie and type of dessert on Thanksgiving. Extra whipped cream too please!
And now for the recipe Grandma Edith would have loved…
Strawberry Chia Rhubarb Crisp
Ingredients
Fruit Mixture
- 2 cups sliced fresh strawberries
- 2 cups sliced fresh rhubarb
- 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
- Juice of 1/2 orange {I used a blood orange}
- 4 tablespoons chia seeds
Crisp Topping
- 1/4 cup melted butter {or you can use melted virgin coconut oil for a vegan version}
- 1/4 cup brown sugar or coconut sugar
- 1/2 cup oats {certified gluten-free for those on a gluten-free diet}
- 1/4 cup tapioca starch
- 1/4 cup sorghum or brown rice flour
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit.
- Combine fruit, maple syrup, and chia seeds in a large mixing bowl and mix until well combined. Spoon fruit mixture in to 4 ramekins or oven safe glass bowls.
- Combine butter, sugar, oats, and flours in a mixing bowl, and stir until well combined. Spoon crisp topping mixture, equally divided, on top of fruit, and bake for 25 minutes, or until fruit is cooked through, and crisp topping is light golden brown.
- Remove from oven and let cool for about 30 minutes before serving.
Nutrition
Nutrition Notes…
- Gluten-free, vegetarian, low FODMAP, and vegan option if you use virgin coconut oil in place of the butter. Grandma Edith loved butter, so this is what I made it with. Me too 🙂
- Each bowl contains 1 serving of fruit, plus is rich in fiber and, vitamins C and K, lutein {for your peepers}, and antioxidants.
- Did you know that cooked rhubarb supplies a good dose of the antioxidant lycopene, but raw rhubarb has none?
What is your most treasured cookware? Have you ever made a rhubarb crisp before? What’s your favorite dessert to splurge on???
Hi There! I’m EA, a registered dietitian nutritionist (RDN) in sunny San Diego. I create easy, DELICIOUS gluten free recipes & low FODMAP recipes for a wide variety of diets. Learn more about my nutrition philosophy and my nutrition coaching for digestive health, autoimmune disease, wellness nutrition, & vibrant aging. Sign up for my newsletter, or get in touch~I’d love to connect with you!
What an inspiration she is and I love that she drank her apple cider vinegar tonic everyday!
Hi Heather,
I came across your blog on one of Deena Kakaya’s posts. This recipe looks so delicious! I have to try it. Since moving to the US I have not had the courage to make anything Rhubarb related.
I especially loved hearing about your Grandma. I feel like I was able to connect with you on that level as I was pretty close to mine and learned a lot from her.
Thanks for sharing
Hi Shamin! So glad you stopped by & thanks so much for your sweet comment! Rhubarb on it’s own is quite sour, but delicious cooked and mixed with other fruits. We grew it in our garden when I was growing up, so it brings back lots of wonderful memories for me 🙂 Cheers!
Thanks so much Terra! I absolutely loved this theme too!! xoxo
Love this healthier take on Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp!
Thanks Rebecca! My kids and hubby loved it too, so it is definitely a keeper 🙂
Aww…..thanks! I love the photo too & it’s been hanging out in our kitchen since I wrote this post and took the photos. It’s kind of nice to have Grandma Edith at all out meals 🙂
Awww love this! My treasured item was from a Grandma Edith too : )
Cheers to our Grandma Edith’s!!! So glad you stopped by and love your ReDux dessert too 🙂
Love everything about this post, especially the pic of you and your grandma!
Thank you so much Jessica!! It was such a fun post to write 🙂
Lovely, lovely post EA, and what a sweet photo of you and Grandma Edith. I was shortly going to post a strawberry and rhubarb crumble but will now wait a wee bit! Your one has just the right amount of sweetness to my mind, and of course the chia makes it nice and filling too. I always enjoy your posts so much. I can imagine that you are actually smiling while writing them up. And that makes me smile 😀
Do you have a hidden camera somewhere in my house??? I’m smiling as I type this now 🙂 Can’t wait to see your crumble-no doubt it will be fabulous like all your other recipes! xoxo
Gosh – I love this post (and so thrilled we got to see a photo of Grandma Edith too.) What a lady to admire! And I’m coveting that green bowl of hers – I swear I don’t like any of the modern mixing bowls I have – my favorites are vintage ones. And if it’s strawberry rhubarb anything, I’m eating it.
Thanks Deanna!! I think I’m like you…other than my green mixing bowl I have a set of (unexciting but useful) glass Pyrex bowls, but nothing else has really caught my fancy. I’m tempted to buy some more vintage Bauer bowls off Ebay, b/c they are so much prettier than anything else I’ve come across 🙂
This looks insanely delicious!!! I love rhubarb and even eat it raw with salt!
Thanks Liz!! I tried to find rhubarb in the store too late last year, so I was really excited to find it to make this crisp. It was the first time my kids tried it, and they loved it-well at least cooked w/ strawberries 🙂
Love a good Grandma story, aren’t they the best? I miss mine everyday! And your rhubarb crisp…well it looks amazing, of course!
Yes, Grandmas are the best! 🙂 Thanks so much Danielle!!!
awww… i love this post. what a lovely photo of you two. she sounds like the kind of grandmother we all dream of… i’m impressed with her apple cider vinegar & honey afternoons (“holistic” before her time 🙂 ) and certainly appreciate her love of desserts.
Thanks Gretchen!! Yes, she swore by the Apple Cider Vinegar and honey, and it served her very well-something I think I need to start taking up myself 🙂
Loved reading about your grandmother – she sounds like such an incredible woman. Beautiful dessert in her honor and I love her bowl.
Thanks so much Jeanette!! It’s funny, I don’t recall ever seeing that green bowl in her kitchen, but then Grandma Edith had a LOT of stuff that we never saw 🙂
I love the sweetness in your posts. Your words about your grandmother are lovely, my late grandmother never complained either. Your bowls are beautiful and recipe so clever. The pic of your wedding day with your grandma…magic xx
Thank you so much Deena!! I have so many wonderful memories with my Grandma & I definitely think she would have approved of this recipe 🙂 xoxo