RHUBARB CRISP

My only exposure to rhubard as a child was with jam, a friend used to make and give to my mom. She had a huge vegetable garden bursting with all kinds of edible treasures. I remember helping her around huge cooking pots with long fibrous stems slow cooking in her kitchen. Carefully removing the foam at the top from time to time. She always mixed them with strawberries.  

Rhubarb Crisp

Well, rhubarb is in season now so why not take advantage of what Mother Nature is offering us? One of the simplest dish you can make with Rhubarb is a crisp. To use less sweetener, add other fruit like cherries, peaches, pears or a little apple juice. Turns out, rhubard is a vegetable, not a fruit! So you can have your vegetable and eat it like a fruit! 

INGREDIENTS:
5-6 rhubarb stems, trimmed at the end
1-2 cups of other chopped sweet fruit (cherries, peaches, apples...)
Some granola (make sure it doesn't contain honey because most do!)
Little sugar for the top

PREPARATION:

1. Wash, trim and chop the rhubarb. Keep the left over for your compost pile. 
2. Pour into a large pot
3. Add a cup of apple juice or water
4. Sprinkle a little sugar
5. Mix and cover and cook over low to medium heat (15mn max).
6. Mix every now and then
7. Remove from heat

When ready to serve you can do one of several things depending on how much time you have and if you don't mind a few more calories:


1. Quick serve: just pour some granola over the top and serve
2. A little more fancy: Melt a few tablespoons of vegan butter, mix them with the granola and spoon over the top. Broil for 2 minutes at 350 to caramelize the top. Yumm!
3. Fancier ever: broil the top and serve with your favorite vegan icecream! 

NUTRITIONAL CORNER:
Rhubarb is low in calories (just 26 calories in 1 cup, not bad), 95% of it is water. You do want to add some sugar to lower its acidity (3.1 pH), just don't go crazy with it.

GROWING TIPS: 
If you are thinking of growing it, make sure to have space for it, because it is like zucchinis, it needs space around it. Rhubarb needs heavy mulching in the winter to protect the bulb from the cold. Mulch also throughout the year. Remember that leaves are poisonous, so be careful with children. 


Use rhubarb to make an aphid spray: 
Chop 3 to 5 rhubarb leaves and add to a quart of water. 
Boil for 30 minutes.
Strain and add a dash of liquid, non-detergent, soap.
Pour in a spray bottle and spray as needed.