Rhubarb season is brief, and that solely makes us admire this tart vegetable much more. Each spring, we stay up for cooking and baking with rhubarb as a result of it’s fleeting and particular! When you assume the one issues you can also make with rhubarb are jam and pie, we now have many extra methods to make use of rhubarb that you could take pleasure in!
Culinary Vitamin Advantages of Rhubarb
Nutritionally talking, rhubarb is:
Rhubarb may be very tart – some might even describe it as bitter – and tastes a lot better in case you add sweetness to it (we like utilizing pure sweeteners), although not a lot that you simply masks its beautiful acidity. Whilst you can eat rhubarb stalks uncooked, as they’re extraordinarily fibrous, we want to cook dinner them in order that they soften (this additionally releases a few of its juice). Don’t eat the leaves – they’re toxic!
Try a few of our favorite methods to make use of rhubarb under and tell us yours too!
15 Methods to Use Rhubarb
Photograph: Monika Grabkowska on UnSplash
Jam
Sure, rhubarb jam is a traditional and that’s why it’s first on our checklist! With minimal components, jam offers rhubarb the possibility to shine. When you don’t have canning expertise, you possibly can simply make freezer jam. To assist your jam thicken, add a little bit of apple for its pure pectin or strive a couple of spoonfuls of omega 3-rich chia seeds.
Pie
You may have apple pie at nearly any time of the yr – make your springtime particular by baking up a scrumptious rhubarb pie.
Tarts or Galettes
A easy rhubarb filling or chopped rhubarb can take your gluten-free desserts to the subsequent stage. If tart crusts are too fussy for you, strive making a galette – it’s free-form and rustic, and exhibits off rhubarb properly.
Chutney
Rhubarb chutney affords a tart complement to many dishes. We like to make use of it as a savory sandwich unfold, dollop it over meat or tofu, serve it with gluten-free crackers and dairy-free cheese, roll it up in dumplings with greens, and dip chickpea flatbread in it.
Muffins or Scones
As a substitute of dried fruit or chocolate chips, fold in finely chopped rhubarb into your muffin and scone recipes. When you’re puzzled by gluten-free baking, this Gluten-Free Flour Information and Substitution Reference has you coated.
Fruit Compote
Rhubarb compote is very simple – you simply stew rhubarb and a sweetener on the stovetop till it breaks down and turns into mushy and gooey. It’s one in all our favorite methods to make use of rhubarb! You may make this with rhubarb solely, toss in extra fruits like apples, strawberries or raspberries, or improve it with pantry spices like ginger or cinnamon. It’s wonderful to eat by itself, and we love dolloping it on oatmeal, ice cream, dairy-free yogurt, dairy-free cheesecake, or brownies.
Popsicles
Mix rhubarb into your favorite popsicle recipes for a fast and simple frozen deal with. This selection may be very kid-friendly!
Dairy-Free Ice Cream
We’ll by no means get uninterested in new ice cream flavours! Mix cooked or recent rhubarb into your dairy-free ice cream recipes, or swirl some rhubarb compote all through.
Smoothies
Add some tartness to your dairy-free smoothie recipes or smoothie bowls by mixing in some rhubarb or drizzling some compote over high.
Kombucha
Flavour up your kombucha with some chopped rhubarb. Study precisely how to do that in our Information to Brewing and Flavouring Kombucha.
Crumble
There aren’t too many greens that go properly in crumbles, however rhubarb is certainly an exception. Preserve your crumble rhubarb-only or strive it with a mixture of completely different seasonal fruits.
Soda or Elixir Syrup
Simmer up some rhubarb and a pure sweetener of your alternative, then pressure the solids. Add splashes of the ensuing liquid to soda water, mocktails, iced elixirs, iced teas, or sip a shot glass by itself.
Savory Sauce
Not all methods to make use of rhubarb are candy treats! Add aromatics like onions, garlic, and ginger, in addition to spices resembling cumin, coriander, and allspice, together with apple cider vinegar and also you’ve obtained a tremendous savory sauce to enrich fish, poultry, pork, meat or tofu. You may additionally amp up the creaminess with coconut milk or nut or seed milk, in case you’d like.
It’s also possible to add rhubarb to your BBQ sauce or do-it-yourself ketchup for a little bit of tang.
Get your information to do-it-yourself sauces right here.
Soups and Stews
When you’ve ever tried apple and butternut squash soup, paired grilled stone fruits or berries with a salad, or dotted your gluten-free pizza with recent figs, you’ll know that fruit enhances a variety of savory dishes! Strive chopping up some rhubarb for some zing in your subsequent pot of soup or one-pot stew meal.
When you’re on the lookout for an concept to start out with, strive including a cup of chopped rhubarb to the pot the subsequent time you make tomato soup. Mix up the combination with some cashews or thick coconut milk for further luxuriousness.
Oven Roasted
We love the caramelization that occurs after we roast rhubarb within the oven with the best of adornments resembling coconut oil, honey, and cinnamon.
When you take pleasure in experimenting within the kitchen and making an attempt new recipes, one in all these rhubarb beauties would be the subsequent factor you make!
Header Picture: iStock.com/Anna_Shepulova
