Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble

Starting last month, we saw the oddest-looking plants coming up all around the back of our yard. They were big red bulges, and broke open to reveal large green leaves. As soon as the leaves unfurled all the way, Nick recognized what they were - rhubarb! He grew up eating rhubarb out of his backyard. I don't think I'd ever had it before. But, in our new backyard we have 5 or 6 big patches of it!

I wanted to make some sort of a crumble that wouldn't require eggs for a binder, and when searching rhubarb crumble didn't yield anything particularly interesting, I decided to take some of the ideas I found around the web and create my own. It was a hit! Here's what I came up with:

Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble

Approx. 1 1/2 cups rhubarb, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 cup strawberries, cut in half
1/2-3/4 cup maple syrup
1 Tablespoon arrowroot (could leave this out for GAPS)
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/4 teaspoon cardamom

Gently stir these together in a 9x13" dish. Then, in a small bowl, mix:

1 1/2 Cups almond meal or flour
1 Tablespoon ground chia seed
1/2 cup coconut oil
1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 Tablespoons maple syrup

Spoon this over the fruit mixture and gently even it out on top. Bake in 350 degree oven for about 45 minutes. I covered mine for the first 35 min and then uncovered for about 10 min, so the topping wouldn't get too brown. We ate it with coconut milk ice cream. The first of many rhubarb recipes this summer, I'm guessing!