Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp

A Crisp for Summer    

       It is truly starting to feel like summer now. There are graduations, the days are long, the temperatures are high, and I've tried paddle boarding! My favorite summer dessert as a kid was plum cobbler (made like a crisp), with the cherry sized plums from our backyard. While it tasted fantastic, the three main ingredients were butter, brown sugar, and flour. Not exactly the type of crisp you feel great about having for breakfast the next morning.  But the real reason I no longer climb the tree and pick the plums is because our tree no longer produces any :(. It has reached too old of an age. 

I really can't complain anymore now that I have another sweet and tangy crisp. Today, the strawberries were half off and the ice cream was free, making it an all around positive deal. A slice of the crisp with a scoop of the vanilla cloud ice cream is in my top 4 new favorite summer desserts.  One should  know that I don't use the word favorite lightly. 

Strawberry Rhubarb Base

Ingredients

• 3 Stalks rhubarb
• 8 large strawberries
• 1.5 T chia seed powder or tapioca starch
• Honey to taste 

Directions

1. Place chopped rhubarb in a sauce pan with enough water to cover it. Bring water to a boil and then turn on low until the rhubarb is soft.  Drain the water.
2. Chop the strawberries and combine the the rhubarb and chia powder.
3. Place pour into an 8 by 8 pan and drizzle honey over.

Crumble Topping

Ingredients

• 1/2 C almond flour
• 1/2 C oat flour (just process oats until fine)
• 3 T  coconut oil
• 2 T butter
• 1/4 t lemon zest (opt)
• 1.5 T honey
• 1/4 C coconut sugar (or brown sugar)
• 1/4 t salt
• 2 C corn flakes cereal ( not frosted)

Directions

1. Blend oats in a food processor until fine. 

2. Mix together all ingredients except for the corn flakes and almond meal.

3. Pulse in the almond meal and corn flakes, and mix until desired consistency. 

4. Crumble the top over the strawberries and rhubarb and cook for  10 minutes at 350. It should look slightly browned on top.

Chai Chia Chocolate Smoothie

 

A Sweet and Spicey Cold Drink

 

A good chai latte tastes delightfully like Christmas in a cup. However, A)  good chai is hard to come by these days, and B) it's exactly 7 months until Christmas eve. My solution, a chai smoothie. Chia, chai to be exact. This is not your usual smoothie, but its nice to get out of the usual strawberry-banana, or peanut butter banana smoothie routine. Note this photo was taken from choosingraw.com. I can assure you my recipe will have the similar coloring and texture if you are worried.

Ingredients

• 1 chai tea bag 
• 1/3- cup hot water
• 1/2 cup greek yogurt
• 1 frozen banana broken in chunks
• 3 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 tbsp chia powder or seeds (use ground flax seeds if you don't have chia)
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/2 tsp of vanilla extract
• 1 tsp honey 
• 1/2  tsp fresh grated ginger

Directions

1. Brew the tea in the hot water for 3-4 minutes. Strain the liquid and cool for a few minutes.
2. Add the brewed tea and all the other ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Enjoy!

Carrot Sweet Potato Ginger Soup

Internal Warmth

         Hello to my readership, and sorry for my long absence. As everyone says, it's "that time of year" when things are wrapping up, and starting up. Enough of my excuses though, and back to the soup. I know it's 80 degrees outside, but sometimes the late spring still calls for internally warming foods. Air conditioning is jacked up, you are in and out of the pool, and it's breezy. Basically I'm trying to convince you of why this soup is still a good idea any time of day or year. But really the taste should be enough to sell you. It's a pretty simple recipe so next time I will try adding some roasted onions or butternut squash. Enjoy!

Ingredients- Serves 1

• 2 Carrots
•  1 small yam
• 1/3 c coconut milk from the can (not a milk carton)
• 1/4 t ground ginger or freshly grated ginger
• Dash of- curry, cumin, nutmeg, salt

Directions 

1. Peel and steam the carrots and yams.
2. Blend the yam and carrots in a blender, and add coconut milk and spices. 
3. Heat on the stove or in the microwave.
4. Enjoy with toast or snapea crisps,