Strawberry-Rhubarb Celebration Crisp

Last week was a big one for Operation Frontline Seattle. With five classes ending, our week was full of graduation celebration. And what better way to celebrate than with a festive dessert? In our SBER class at Sorenson, our volunteer chef Erik Benson decided to add his own twist to the OFL Apple Crisp recipe, creating a unique and seasonal graduation treat. Since strawberries and rhubarb are just coming into season, he decided to use them instead of the apples that the recipe called for. We also added some fresh mint to the mix instead of cinnamon, which adds a surprising and fresh flavor to the dessert. And who says that dessert can't also be healthy? The crispy crumbly topping is full of whole grain oats, the strawberries are an excellent source of vitamin C, and rhubarb is full of vitamin K. But this dessert is so delicious that you won't even know it is good for you... ;)


Strawberry-Rhubarb Celebration Crisp

Serves 9

Ingredients:

1 lb strawberries
1/2 lb Rhubarb
1 1/2 cups quick oats
1/2 cup all-purpose flour, divided
3/4 cup sugar, divided
1/2 stick cold, unsalted butter
1 sprig fresh mint

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
2. Remove strawberry stems and slice them in half. Cut rhubarb into 1/2 inch slices. Be careful to remove any leaves, as they are poisonous! Remove mint leaves from the stalk and chop them finely.
3. Combine the strawberries, rhubarb, 1/4 cup sugar, 1 tablespoon of flour and mint in a large mixing bowl.
4. Transfer mixture to a lightly greased 9X9 baking dish.
5. In another bowl, dice butter into small cubes using a sharp knife. Add the oats along with the remaining flour and sugar, and mix with hands until crumbly.
6. Spread oat mixture over top of the the strawberry rhubarb mixture.
7. Bake uncovered on the middle rack of the oven for 40 minutes, or until top is lightly browned and bubbly.
8. Let sit for 15-20 minutes before serving.

OFL Summit in Omaha

As most of you know, Operation Frontline is a national program based in Washington, DC, with 20 program sites around the country. A couple weeks ago, the Operation Frontline Seattle staff traveled to Omaha for the annual Operation Frontline Summit with all other OFL staff from across the country.

In the past year, the ConAgra Foundation has generously sponsored Operation Frontline National. Because of this new relationship, they offered to host our Summit this year at their headquarters in Omaha. We were excited to go check it out and (some of us) were eager to get our fill of steak!

We stayed in the Old Market section of Omaha, in a hotel located directly next to ConAgra’s campus. In our rooms, gift bags full of Slim Jims, pudding cups, and Peter Pan peanut butter welcomed us.

Our conference sessions were held in the Learning Center on the ConAgra campus. We attended sessions on Organizing for Impact (about organizing space and information in the office), teaching food budgeting in our classes, how to support our (wonderful) volunteers, and a tutorial on how to use digital cameras to capture the best in-class photos possible. The sessions were informative, but perhaps the best part was getting to meet other OFL staff from different sites, and to hear how OFL is implemented differently at their sites. Some sites have just one staff person, who cannot attend all classes. Others utilize volunteer shoppers and must shop for each class separately due to a lack of storage space at their sites. It was fascinating to hear how each site implements OFL in their unique way.

The second night, we got a behind-the-scenes tour of the ConAgra Test Kitchen and were then invited to an Interactive Dinner there. Their team of chefs created a smorgasbord of different dishes for us to try using themes like “one-pot meals” and “healthy substitutions.” We tried biscuits made with 52% whole wheat flour (but still white in color!) in a Chicken and Dumplings dish, Broccoli Cheddar soup, and pulled pork sliders. I felt a little bit like a Top Chef judge as I roamed through the kitchen nibbling and chatting with others. For dessert, the staff made the Chocolate Cake and Carrot Cake from the Eating Right curriculum.

Our last surprise came at us Oprah-style the last day. After the digital photography workshop, ConAgra gifted each site a Flip video camera to capture classes in action!

On the last day we had an hour to kill before heading back to Seattle, so we decided to check out the famous Omaha zoo (where we got a chance to practice our new photography skills...)!

Thanks ConAgra for hosting and to the National office for putting together such a useful Summit.