Mom’s Royal Rhubarb Crisp

It’s May 1 and next weekend is Mother’s Day! So today I am thinking of my mom and how very very lucky I am to have such a wonderful woman as my mother. Throughout my life, my mom always encouraged me to be anything I wanted to be … she was always my confidante, someone I knew would always be there for me. She’s always been there for my children, too, making sure she is there for all of their events and to celebrate their birthdays. As a Registered Dietitian, she’s taught me so much about food and nutrition, too, and that’s had a profound impact on my life and my blog.

Since she worked with food all day, my mom didn’t cook much when I was young, but one of my fondest food memories as a child was my mom’s rhubarb crisp. She thickened it with tapioca and sprinkled the rhubarb with mandarin oranges, bright bits of sunshine. She called it Royal Rhubarb Crisp and we felt royal when we ate it, warm from the oven, with cold vanilla ice cream. My sisters, my dad and I just loved it and would beg her to make it for us. Since I’ve grown up and had children of my own, I’ve made it for my daughter many, many times too, and it’s one of her favorites. I’ve blogged this recipe before, but it was back in the early days of the blog, when my photography skills weren’t that good. In honor of mother’s day this year, I thought it was time to blog this treasure again.

The rhubarb for my crisp always comes from my mom’s two gorgeous rhubarb plants that she has taken with her as they moved away from the house I grew up in. They’ve moved twice since then and she still has those rhubarb plants. Her precious plants have grown HUGE and every year I can take as much as I want and never seem to even make a dent in the rhubarb. A couple years ago I found a couple baby rhubarb plants next to the “mother” plants. I brought them home, hoping to someday have my own monster rhubarb plants, from the same stock of rhubarb I ate as a child. Unfortunately, the deer like to eat my rhubarb plants, so until I get a fenced garden, it’s tough for them to grow. But at least one has survived and I am planning to get my fenced garden in place this year, so maybe then it can really make a place for itself.

Mom’s Royal Rhubarb Crisp

• Prep Time: 20 minutes
• Cook Time: 45 minutes
• Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
• Yield: 9 - 12 servings 1x

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Ingredients

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• 4– 5 cups chopped rhubarb (frozen works well too!)
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons quick-cooking tapioca
• 1 1/2 teaspoons good quality vanilla
• 1 (11-oz.) can mandarin oranges in light syrup, drained
• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup quick-cooking oatmeal
• 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/4 cup cold butter

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Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a medium bowl toss the rhubarb, sugar and tapioca. Let stand for 15 minutes, tossing twice.
3. Pour into a lightly greased square 9×9 or 8×8 baking pan and top with the mandarin orange segments.
4. In another bowl, combine the brown sugar, oats, flour, salt, cinnamon and ginger. Mix well.
5. Cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
6. Sprinkle the topping evenly over the rhubarb mixture. Bake for 45 minutes or until the top is golden brown.

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Notes

To make this recipe gluten free, use brown rice flour in place of the whole wheat flour and make sure to use gluten free oats.

RECIPE SOURCE: http://www.sumptuousspoonfuls.com/

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This recipe was shared at The Wednesday Roundup, Full Plate Thursday and Hearth & Soul Bloghop.