Gingered Rhubarb Crisp

I don't tend to do a lot with rhubarb. I enjoy the odd strawberry-rhubarb pie. But I don't think I've ever made one myself. I usually just get them ready-made from shops and restaurants. And, other than that, my rhubarb experience is very limited. But I know that TF enjoys various rhubarb-based confections as an occasional treat. And I do now have a bunch of recipes that call for it. And she also loves ginger. So, when rhubarb came into season this spring, I decided to give it a try. (I then failed to write it up for half a year, but that's beside the point.)

Gingered Rhubarb Crsip

Slightly adapted from Dish of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 680g rhubarb, cut into 1cm pieces
• 1 large orange
• 3/4 c. sugar
• 2.5cm (1") piece fresh ginger, peeled and grated
• 3/4 c. flour
• 1/2 c. brown sugar
• 1/3 c. rolled oats
• 1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/4 c. unsalted butter, melted
• vanilla ice cream, to serve (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 190°C (375°F).
2. Combine rhubarb with 1 tsp. orange zest, 1/3 c. orange juice, and the (granulated) sugar in a 23cm (9") square baking tin.
3. In a bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar, oats, cinnamon, and salt and mix well.
4. Add the butter and stir until evenly mixed.
5. Sprinkle the oat mixture over the rhubarb.
6. Bake at 190°C (375°F) until topping is golden and juices are thick (30-40 minutes).
7. Allow to cool for at least 20 minutes before serving.
8. Serve as-is or with vanilla ice cream.

I've been waiting for rhubarb season so that I could try out this recipe. It's the last oatmeal recipe in the Breakfast Bible that I hadn't tried yet. I love strawberry-rhubarb pie and crumble. So the idea of bringing those flavours to oatmeal for breakfast was very appealing!

I kept pretty much to the recipe. But I did add a small amount of vanilla to the topping and swapped out the granulated sugar for brown sugar. I also used significantly less milk/cream than called for. But that was all it really needed.

Strawberry-Rhubarb Slump Oatmeal

Slightly adapted from the Breakfast Bible by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 2 stalks rhubarb
• 1 c. strawberries
• 1/3 c. brown sugar
• 4 c. water, divided
• 1/8 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 2 c. rolled oats
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/2 c. milk or cream

Directions

1. Wash the rhubarb well and chop it into 1cm pieces.
2. Combine the rhubarb, strawberries, sugar, and 1/4 c. of the water and bring to a boil.
3. Reduce heat to medium and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender (~15 minutes).
4. Meanwhile, bring the remaining water to a boil in a second pot.
5. Add the salt and oats and reduce heat to medium.
6. Cook, stirring occasionally, until soft and creamy (5-8 minutes).
7. Once the rhubarb is soft, remove from heat and stir in the vanilla.
8. Spoon some oatmeal into a bowl and top with some of the strawberry-rhubarb mixture.
9. Pour a little milk or cream over top and serve.

We've got lots of eggs again, but I wasn't vibing with any of the egg-y breakfast ideas I looked at. I think the cooler weather has put me in the mood for more starch-y, bread-y things. So I decided to take a look at one of the breakfast cookbooks PDFs we have kicking around to see if any of that looked appealing.

The first chapter focuses on granola and oatmeal. I don't really feel like granola is a meal in and of itself, so I just ignored those recipes for now. But oatmeal works as a hot breakfast on a cool morning. I don't find it really fills me up and sticks to my ribs the way everyone seems to claim it does, but it's still nice to have every once in a while. It's quick, easy, reasonably healthy (as long as you don't add too much sugar and junk to it), and I like trying out new flavour combinations.

I ended up opting for the coconut-date-cashew variant for this morning and it was quite good. I decided to top mine with a little plain Greek yogurt rather than milk or cream in the hopes that this swap would make it a little more filling without increasing the calorie count too much. I also used a little "no sugar added" syrup in place of the honey, but I do think honey would have been nicer.

I've included the recipe for the plain oatmeal here with the various flavours and variations below it.

Basic Oatmeal

Slightly adapted from The Breakfast Bible by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 3 1/2 c. water
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 2 c. rolled oats ("old-fashioned" or quick)
• ~1/3 c. milk, cream, or yogurt

Directions

1. Add the salt to the water and bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
2. Add oatmeal, reduce heat to medium-low, and cook, uncovered, stirring frequently, until thickened (5-6 minutes for old-fashioned oats, 2-3 minutes for quick oats).
3. Serve. Top each portion with ~1 Tbsp. of cream (or milk or yogurt).
4. Enjoy as-is or with additional toppings.

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Variations

Vegan Version

Ingredients

• 3 1/2 c. water
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 2 c. rolled oats ("old-fashioned" or quick)
• ~1/3 c. oat, nut, or soy milk

Oatmeal with Brown Sugar, Bananas, and Fresh Figs

Ingredients

• 3 1/2 c. water
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 2 c. rolled oats ("old-fashioned" or quick)
• ~1/3 c. (non-dairy) milk, cream, or yogurt
• ~1/4 c. brown sugar
• 2-3 bananas, sliced
• 8-12 fresh figs, stemmed and quartered
• ~1/4 c. maple syrup¹ (optional)

Top each portion with ~1 Tbsp. of cream (or milk or yogurt), 1-3 tsp. of brown sugar, ~1/2 a banana, 2 figs, and 1-3 tsp. of maple syrup (if using).

Oatmeal with Coconut, Dates, Cashews, and Honey

Ingredients

• 3 1/2 c. water
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 2 c. rolled oats ("old-fashioned" or quick)
• ~1/3 c. (non-dairy) milk, cream, or yogurt
• ~1/3 c. cashews, toasted and chopped
• 8-12 dates, sliced
• ~1/4 c. unsweetened dried coconut
• ~1/4 c. honey

Top each portion with ~1 Tbsp. of cream (or similar), ~1 Tbsp. cashews, 2 dates, 2-3 tsp. of coconut, and 2-3 tsp. of honey.

Strawberry-Rhubarb "Slump"

Ingredients

• 2 stalks rhubarb, cut into 1-cm pieces
• 1 c. strawberries
• 1/3 c. sugar
• 1/4 c. water
• 3 1/2 c. water
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 2 c. rolled oats ("old-fashioned" or quick)
• ~1/3 c. (non-dairy) milk, cream, or yogurt

Directions

1. Combine the rhubarb, strawberries, sugar, and water and bring to a boil over medium heat.
2. Cook, stirring occasionally, until rhubarb is soft (~10 minutes). Set aside.
3. Cook oatmeal as directed above.
4. Top each portion with ~1 Tbsp. of cream (or similar) and a spoonful of the strawberry-rhubarb compote.

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¹ The original recipe claims to make 4 servings and calls for 1 Tbsp. of brown sugar and 1 Tbsp. of maple syrup per serving. Personally, I feel like the protion size is way too large if you only divide this batch of oatmeal into four. Six seems like a more reasonable division. But even if you then scale down the toppings proportionately, that would mean ~2 tsp. each of sugar and maple syrup per serving. And that seems like way too much sugar to me when you've already got the bananas and the figs in there since they're relatively sweet on their own. Personally, I think I'd probably just roll with the bananas, figs, and a touch of brown sugar and leave out the maple syrup. ^Back