Strawberry, Apple and Buckwheat Crumble and a Salad

Strawberry season is in full bloom in Florida. This year, it was delayed a bit by the unusually cold winter, but it’s here now and we are taking full advantage of it.

Every year, we love to take the kids strawberry picking. They love getting down and dirty and eating the berries right off the plant. One of the best pleasures in life, if you ask me. So earlier this week, we packed up the car with kids and snacks and headed north to the Dekker Family Farms in Ft. Pierce.

It was a gorgeous day with blue sunny skies and a nice breeze. The drive alone was worth the trip with endless green fields, cows, citrus groves and the windows down.

Dekker Family Farms is a hydroponic grower. This was my first time in a farm of this nature where everything grows vertically in pots. We picked strawberries, arugula, rainbow chard, lettuce and herbs. I have to admit that although the produce was beautiful, something was missing for me. Getting my hands dirty, knealing… It was just not the same experience. The kids enjoyed it regardless and their baskets were overflowing with berries.

We came home and baked these little bowls of gluten-free apple and strawberry compote topped with buckwheat and almond crumble inspired by Y’s strawberry and buckwheat pairing. So so delicious.

A small salad of radishes, strawberries and goat cheese was also on the menu. Fresh, sweet and spicy.

Strawberry, Apple and Buckwheat Crumble

300 grams strawberries
1 apple, peeled and diced
1 lemon, zest and juice
1 vanilla bean, seeded
25 grams sugar
10 grams cornstarch

Toss all ingredients together and place in bowls. Top with buckwheat and almond crumble.

100 grams butter, cold and cut into small pieces
100 grams sugar
100 grams buckwheat
100 grams almond flour
1/4 tsp salt

Mix the sugar, buckwheat, almond flour and salt in a bowl. Add the cold diced butter and work it into the flour until a crumb forms and small pieces of butter remain.

Top the fruit with the crumble (it makes more than what you will need). Bake at 350F for about 30 minutes or until fruit starts to bubble over. If the crumble turns dark before the fruit is bubbling, cover with aluminum foil.

The rest of the unused crumble may be frozen until next time.