Apple rhubarb crisp

Rhubarb combines easily with other fruits to make desserts worthy of vanilla ice cream.

I have a plant problem.

Seriously, I can’t stop buying houseplants! This is a totally new thing — with the exception of a few little potted flowers I made my parents buy me as a kid (and then I promptly lost interest in), I’ve never been into houseplants. Or really, plants at all. I just haven’t cared much about botany: until now. Something flipped last year and all of a sudden I’m infatuated with nature: animals, plants, the Earth (I mean, I’ve always liked the Earth…). The most recent manifestation of this: houseplants.

On Mother’s day, Marc and I went to the Portland Nursery and picked out a fig tree for our apartment — seriously, love at first sight. My baby! I love it. We cooled our jets for a while, feeling good about our succulents and fig tree, but then Father’s Day rolled around. (side note: obviously we are not parents of humans … these holidays have very little importance to the story other than being memorable for me!) We went back to the nursery with the intent of getting a monstera, only to come home with a different philodendron. That makes two houseplants … and then things got crazy.

By “crazy” I mean the rate at which we bought plants began to increase. In the last few weeks, we’ve bought three NEW, BIG plants. Not little babies! We did finally get our monstera, alone with a nice bushy fern AND a beautiful, really robust sansevieria! And I love them all so much! At the risk of giving you 100 percent proof that I’m a lunatic, I’m gonna admit that I totally talk to the plants, refer to them as beings (when we’re gone and I can’t wait to go home and see them!), pay special attention to them when watering, etc. I’m afraid the apartment might turn into a jungle, but at the same time I can’t cross the line into messy plants yet – they’ve gotta look sharp!

Onto dessert! I had lunch with my mom and grandmother last week and, as it is summer, came home with a huge bag of produce – rhubarb and apples included! And kale. ALL the kale. So, so, so much kale.

I’ve been craving a crisp, and they’re easy easy easy to throw together, so I did just that. Super simple! Chop apples, chop rhubarb, toss with sugar, make the topping, BAKE. Easy. If you want another easy rhubarb crisp recipe, check out my raspberry rhubarb crisp from last year – pretty much the same, just swap raspberries for apples!

Apple rhubarb crisp

1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cardamom
6 tablespoons cold butter, cubed
1 cup old-fashion oats
3 cups fresh rhubarb, chopped
3 cups diced apples
3/4 cup white sugar (I used coconut sugar, but any will work)
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon fresh lemon zest

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

2. In a food processor, combine the flour, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon, and cardamom. Pulse to blend together.

3. Add the butter to the processor, and pulse until no chunks are bigger than pea-sized. Add the oatmeal and pulse to combine, but not to chop up the oats. Set aside (keep cold if you're not working very quickly here).

4. Toss together the rhubarb, apples, sugar, cornstarch, and lemon zest. Mix well, then pour into a buttered 8x8" baking dish.

5. Top with the oat crumble mixture, and bake for 45-50 minutes. The fruit should be bubbling, and the crumble should be turning light golden-brown. Remove and serve warm with vanilla ice cream.

Related post on The Kitchen Paper: Raspberry rhubarb crisp