Eating to Run: Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble

I've always had a strange phobia about pre-historic-seeming plants and animals: the list includes rhubarb, sturgeon, and northern pike... If they "seem" prehistoric to my mind's eye, their perceived antiquity scares the bejeezus out of me. I know...it's odd. I think it's some peculiar philosophical vertigo when contemplating vast and epic stretches of time. I mean, how can that sturgeon at the bottom of Lake Michigan be over 200 years old? Creepy....

Anyhow, plants in this group include rhubarb--I can picture dinosaur limbs crushing its lush leaves across the millenia. When it grows like wild in spring, I find it scary. But somehow when David harvests it, mixes it with sugar, oatmeal and other good stuff...no prob! This Strawberry-Rhubarb Crumble is a tasty 3 point dessert that uses the bounty of rhubarb we find in our garden this time of year.

Fruit Layer:
4 cups chopped rhubarb
1 container chopped strawberries
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 t. quick-cooking tapioca
1 T grated orange zest
1/2 - 1 t. ground ginger

Topping:
1 1/2 c. rolled oats
1/4 c. flour
1/2 t. ground cinnamon
1 egg white
1 T. canola oil
1 t. vanilla extract
2 T. juice from orange

Preheat oven to 350. Combine fruit layer ingredients; mix and pour into baking pan sprayed with Pam cooking spray. Mix dry toppings. In separate bowl, whisk wet ingredients. Combine and spread over top of fruit. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 20 minutes. Remove foil and bake for additional 20 - 30 minutes. Serve with fat free whipped cream, if desired.

Serving size: app. 1/2 cup
WW Points: 3 points per serving

Use whatever fresh fruits are in season. This version is perfect for our May bounty of garden rhubarb!

Recipe by David, adapted from WW Pure Comfort Cookbook and Moosewood Low-Fat Favorites.

Photo & Layout Design (c) 2007 Ann Hetzel Gunkel; Digital Supplies: Erica Hite's Cherish Collection at Scrap Girls & Thao Cosgrove's Friendship Collection at ScrapGirls