This might be like saying apple pie for millions of people, but as someone who grew up in the desert, rhubarb crisp was some seriously ethnic white-people food when I moved out east — and now it’s one of my favorite things about early summer.

No strawberries here. This recipe is rhubarb for rhubarb’s sake. And it’s as good as grandma used to make. (Or at least, so all the New Englanders who grew up on this tell me.)

Ingredients:

• 4 cups chopped rhubarb
• ½ cup melted butter
• ½ cup brown sugar
• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1 cup flour
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 Tbsp cornstarch

Instructions:

Goes without saying, but first, chop your rhubarb as you would celery. (Mind-blowing, I know.)

Next, combine your oats, flour, brown sugar, and melted butter in a large mixing bowl. Mix thoroughly and divide in half.

In a small saucepan, simmer your water and add the white sugar, cornstarch, and vanilla extract.

In a medium baking dish — 9×9, 9×12, it matters little — press one half of your oat mix into the bottom to form your crust. Next, dump your chopped rhubarb — how poetic! — followed by the remaining half of your oat mixture as the crowning layer. And finally, drizzle your melted sugar mixture evenly over the whole thing.

Bake at 350°F for about an hour. Every recipe says about an hour, but honestly, after that, I just let it keep baking away until the oats on top turn golden and the corners begin to caramelize: usually another 30-45 minutes, but just keep an eye on things.

Lastly, set it out to cool a few hours, but try to time it right to it’s still warm come dessert time. (Oh, who are we kidding? Any time, really.)

And there you have it. Enjoy!