Summertime is long gone. The days of warm sunny weather, no jackets, toques or wishing I had a car starter. Even the days of Calla staying still long enough for me to go a little camera happy and snack a couple (or 50) photos of her playing with food. In particular cherries were a delight, it’s a wonder how I forgot about these photos.
Totally fascinated with the stem and intrigued by the taste, she’d always get covered in red cherry juice. She loves them even more as a little snack frozen. One of the best fruits to eat, cherries are high in antioxidants, potassium, phosphorus, magnesium, calcium, Vitamin A, C, K and folate.
Super easy to carry around for a snack, but be sure to brings wipes or napkins since they can make a bit of a mess. They’re also great mixed with oatmeal, yogurt, or mixed in with a fruit salad. No teeth yet?, just steam them for a few minutes them blend together with some water, milk, and mix with banana, couscous or chicken.
As your little one gets bigger though and their teeth come in, they acquire new tastes and you get to bridge the gap between purees to small bites to bigger bites. Try this recipe out on your little one. If you’re not interested in the tartness of the rhubarb you can add more cherries or opt for strawberries instead. I love to add a few extras so the flax meal, hemp hearts and almonds give it a little extra nutritional boost. Serve as a breakfast with plain yogurt, a snack or a tasty treat with a little vanilla ice cream.
Cherry Crumble with Rhubarb
(adapted from Two Peas and their pod)
3 cups cherries, pitted
2 cups rhubarb, chopped
1 tbsp corn starch
1 cup old fashioned rolled oats
2 tbsp whole wheat flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
4 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 tbsp honey
1 tbsp flax meal
1/2 cup slivered almonds
2 tbsp hemp hearts
1/2 cup quinoa flakes
Preheat oven to 375. Grease an 8×8 inch baking dish with butter and set aside.
In a medium bowl, combine cherries, rhubarb and corn starch. Stir until well coated and set aside.
In a seperate bowl, combine rolled oats, quinoa flakes, flax meal, flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Stir well. Mix butter into oat mixture, rubbing together with your fingers, until crumbly. Mix in half the almonds and hemp hearts and stir. Drizzle with honey and stir.
Pour cherry mixture into baking dish, cover with oat mixture. Then sprinkle remaining almonds and hemp hearts on top. Bake 30-35 minutes or until fruit is soft and crisp is bubbly. Serve warm with greek yogurt or vanilla ice cream.
