You may or may not know I used to have a food blog.
Technically, I still have a food blog, although it has sat quietly vacant in its tiny corner of the internet for more than a few years now. When I went back to school for design, I found myself less and less enthused to write the blog as my creative outlet shifted to learning as much as I could about design. That's kind of how it goes, I think. People, things, experiences + work often come into our lives for specific reasons—lingering long enough to teach us lessons, propel us on new paths or serve purposes we didn't even know our stirring souls needed.
In many ways, the blog set me up for the work I'm doing know. I'm constantly bewildered at the way life comes full circle in the oddest of ways. Things begin to make sense when I least expect them too. I don't get how it happens, but I'm not sure we're supposed to.
Sometimes people ask me if I'm "not into food" anymore, but that's just not the case. I think I love it more because I get to make other people's delicious recipes without worrying about developing my own. Plus, life is even better because I get to do work that combines both design + food. And the amount of gratitude I feel to be able to do work I love is overwhelming.
This Berry Rhubarb Crisp is an adaptation of one of my blog recipes, and I like it better than the original. Adding almonds to the crumble gives it such a crunchy, nutty bite; making the crisp one gazillion times more delicious. I made the mistake of baking it in a 10-inch pie pan (DON'T DO THAT). My pie pan quickly runneth over, and I spent far too much time cleaning sticky rhubarb juice from the bottom of my oven.
Please, don't make the same mistake I did, but most certainly—go and make some of your own.
BERRY RHUBARB CRISP ( GLUTEN-FREE )
4 cups ( about 4 to 6 stalks ) rhubarb, diced
4 cups mixed berries
3/4 cup sugar
3 tablespoons gluten-free flour*
juice + zest of one lemon
2 cups brown sugar
2 cups gluten-free oats
1 cup chopped raw almonds
1/2 cup gluten-free flour*
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup unsalted butter, chilled + cut into small cubes
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
In a medium bowl, toss rhubarb, berries, sugar, 3 tablespoons flour, juice and zest. Set aside.
In a large bowl, mix brown sugar, oats, 1/2 cup flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Cut butter into the dry ingredients with your fingers, until mixture is moist and crumbly.
In a greased 9×13-inch pan, pour rhubarb mixture into an even layer. Layer with oat crumble topping. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes or until crisp is golden brown. Serve with plain Greek yogurt, vanilla ice cream and/or extra chopped almonds, if desired.
*I like Minimalist Baker's DIY gluten-free flour blend or grinding gluten-free oats into flour.
**The reason I love this recipe is because you can adapt however you like. Make this recipe vegan by swapping the butter for cold coconut oil, or if you love gluten (as I do), replace the gluten-free flour with whichever flour you have on hand.
