Blueberry Crumble

Another great thing about shopping at the farmers market is that you find yourself looking for interesting ways to use your produce. You don't dare let it sit and fester, as you are absolutely dying to use it. At least that's what I've found.

I bought two pints of beautiful blueberries this past weekend, and knew I wanted to use them in some delicious and healthy dessert. That's right, a healthy dessert. I wasn't going to make muffins or coffee cake, although believe me, it was tempting as I browsed through my recipes. Luckily I found this recipe for Blueberry Crumble that I clipped from an issue of Eating Well magazine (great magazine, by the way) several years ago. It spoke to me.

There are only a few ingredients in this recipe, and none of them are animal-based, so feel free to serve it to your vegan friends. Also feel free to substitute any other fruit (but if it's bigger than a blueberry, I'd recommend chopping it into bite-sized pieces). I actually made extra crumble topping for later, and I'm mentally making plans for it already.

Blueberry Crumble
adapted from Eating Well magazine
serves 4-6

INGREDIENTS:

For Filling:
2 1/2 cups fresh blueberries (or other fruit)
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon whole-wheat flour
1 tablespoon fresh orange juice

For Topping:
3/4 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1/2 cup pecans, almonds, or walnuts (or a combination), chopped
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons whole-wheat flour
scant 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons canola oil

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 400.

2. In a medium bowl, toss fruit with sugar, flour and orange juice. Pour into an 8 x 8 glass baking dish and distribute evenly.

3. In another bowl, combine oats, nuts, brown sugar, flour and cinnamon and stir until well blended. Drizzle oil over the dry ingredients and stir until evenly moistened.

4. Top the fruit mixture with the dry topping, distributing evenly. Bake until the top is browned and filling is bubbling, about 20 minutes. Let stand at least 10 minutes before serving.

This dessert is just dying to be served a la mode...but I suppose that might spoil the healthiness. I can vouch for it as being fantastically delicious on its own. Either way, enjoy!