Spring Rhubarb: Mini Rhubarb Strawberry Crisps

What are those pink to reddish stalks anyway that we see in the produce shelf? It is not celery and nor is it related to it either. …so what do you do with them? It is time to revisit in the spring this vegetable that thinks it a fruit!   It makes strawberries more flavorful, and adds flavor with a small amount of sweetness. Can be used in savory dishes as in Middle Eastern recipes with beef or lamb.

Rhubarb can be made into a sauce for ice cream and is great with pork chops. Quick cooking with only 27 calories to a cup, 5 grams of carbohydrate /cup and 0 fat, rhubarb can be sweetened  with a small amount of honey, coconut sugar or granulated white sugar. 

Don’t consume the green tops, they have toxins called oxalic acid so only eat the stalks. Since impromptu is sometimes the best,  I made a low fat, low carbohydrate quick munch- a cluster of rhubarb, chopped strawberries, unsweetened coconut, honey with oats, ground almond flour and a small bit of all purpose flour.   Add a drop of vanilla extract and  allspice (the secret to making rhubarb taste more rhubarb).  A touch of fat with butter or soy based spread is added to the mix.  Here’s the recipe.

• 2/3 cup of  almond flour ( almonds ground to a flour consistency)
• 1/4 cup oats
• 1/2 cup of chopped rhubarb
• 1 cup of sliced strawberries
• 1/4 cup of shredded unsweetened coconut
• 1/4 cup of brown sugar or coconut sugar
• 2 additional teaspoons of sugar
• 2 tablespoons of  very softened unsalted butter or soy based butter
• 1/4 cup of all purpose flour
• 2 drops of vanilla
• 2 generous pinches of ground allspice
• 1 egg beaten
• 1 tablespoon of honey or maple syrup
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix all the dry  ingredients together in a bowl except for the 2 additional teaspoons of sugar, beaten egg and honey. Add the softened butter and mix together until a loose dough is formed. Add the fruit, beaten egg, honey and vanilla and continue to mix  until well combined and form into clusters placing them 2 inches apart on a parchment covered cookie sheet. Sprinkle with the additional sugar on the clusters and baked until the fruit is oozing out and the tops are golden about 30 minutes.