RASPBERRIES

Soon enough, little red raspberries will be popping up on our beloved raspberry bushes at HealthBarn USA, and we can’t wait!  Not only are raspberries delicious, but they’re also an excellent source of dietary fiber, the antioxidant vitamin C, and the mineral manganese, as well as a good source of vitamin K, which helps keep blood oxygenated.  A lot of nutrition for a little berry!

GROW

Raspberry bushes are low maintenance and very fruitful: a great combination!  Pick a sunny place near a water source on the side of your home or outside of the garden because they expand rapidly.  Start out with a seedling planted directly into the ground in early spring on the east coast (since we’ve had a cold spring, you could probably still plant now!) and wait patiently for your berries to grow.

EAT

While fresh-picked raspberries are sweet-tart, juicy, and irresistible just as they are, there are also plenty of great ways to cook with them.  You can make jam, smoothies, or top your oatmeal with them.  And you should definitely check out my awesome recipe for Raspberry Crumble!  This one definitely gets double thumbs up from kids, and parents love it too: a great-tasting dessert with fruit and healthy fats?  Delish!

Raspberry Crumble

From, Appetite for Life, by Stacey Antine

This delicious baked dessert tastes so indulgent that parents and kids say it’s too good to be healthy! But it contains heart-healthy fats, so we can have it for dessert or as an after-school snack served with some yogurt.

 

Ingredients

1 1⁄2 cups Crunchy Granola with Walnuts

1 large egg white

1⁄4 cup unsweetened applesauce

1⁄4 cup canola oil

1⁄2 cup whole wheat flour

1⁄2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1⁄2 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup seedless raspberry fruit spread

Directions

1. Prepare Crunchy Granola with Walnuts as recipe directs and reserve 1½ cups in a medium bowl.
2. Preheat oven to 350 ̊F. Grease an 8-inch square metal baking pan.
3. In another medium bowl, whisk together egg white, applesauce, and oil.
4. To the bowl with granola, add flours, baking powder, and baking soda, and stir to combine.
5. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix just until blended.
6. Press 2/3 of dough into the prepared pan. Spread fruit spread over dough, leaving a ½ -inch border on all sides. Crumble the remaining dough over the top.
7. Bake for 18–20 minutes or until golden brown on top. Cool on a wire rack for at least 30 minutes or until fruit spread is no longer runny. Cut into 2-inch squares to serve.

Makes 16 servings (1 square per serving).

What’s your favorite raspberry recipe?

– Stacey Antine, MS, RD, author, Appetite for Life, founder, HealthBarn USA, co-host, Family Food Expert Internet Radio Show, and recognized as top 10 dietitians nationally by Today’s Dietitian magazine for her work with HealthBarn USA