Di(sh)patch with a Mission: Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp

I usually trot off to the market with an open mind and a free spirit.  After all, the fun of the farmer's market is how meal ideas emerge while visiting various producers.  This Sunday, however, thanks to my Fresh Farms newsletter update I had the insiders scoop on two things I was going to find at the DuPont Circle market: strawberries and rhubarb.  I had also promised my mother-in-law that I would make a strawberry rhubarb crisp for Mother's Day dessert.  As a newlywed wanting to please, I knew I needed to deliver.

Not surprisingly, people were not pushing each other over for the rhubarb. I found beautiful bunches of it immediately at the Sunnyside Valley Farm stand. 

I have never made anything with rhubarb (of course) so I really didn't know what to look for.  Another market goer, who seemed to be a rhubarb veteran, was also buying these.  She said that the red ones were good, but it was okay if there were a few green parts.  I did see rhubarb at a few other stands, but these were really the best looking of the bunch. 

The strawberries were an entirely different story.  I only found one stand that had them and it seemed that every market shopper in all of DuPont Circle was in line for them.  I was reminded of going to Safeway on Sunday afternoons as I stood in line for ten minutes to get my coveted strawberries.

Now, before I discuss the end product, I must give credit to the other items I bought.  I was most excited to find goat cheese and herb pierogies from Highfield Dairy (they seem to sell out quickly).  I also got an abundance of vegetables, including asparagus, carrots, spring onions, and swiss chard.  Having enjoyed their Italian sausage in the past, I bought some more from Cedarbrook Farm.  I also found Poussin (whole baby chicken) which I will attempt to make delicious later this week.

This week's market abundance.

With all this in tow, I headed home to create strawberry rhubarb crisp.  My inspiration for this came from Barbara Kingsolver's book Animal Vegetable Miracle.  You can find their recipe   here.  The only changes I made were:

1) I added some cinnamon, vanilla extract, and nutmeg to the strawberry- rhubarb mixture.

2) I added some extra spice to the crumble as well.

The strawberries and rhubarb await the chopping block.  Cooks note: one stalk of rhubarb roughly equaled one cup chopped.  I bought eight stalks meaning that I will be making a pie with my leftovers.

chop chop chop

just add some crumble to the top and bake

Voila!  A perfect Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp to serve as a Mother's Day dessert.