Rhubarb is a perennial plant, considered a vegetable but used mostly as a fruit in desserts. Locally I have seen green and red stalks. In our neck of the woods, Pennsylvania USA, rhubarb is available in the spring, it is currently in season now in June. The stalks are used in cooking, the leaves are cut off and are not eatable.
The nutritional values of rhubarb is fantastic including fiber, protein, various vitamins, calcium, potassium and magnesium. The taste is tart and sugar is usually added in desserts. It is often paired with strawberries, as these two plants are harvested around the same time, the sweet and tart flavors are a good match.
If you’re lucky enough to have a plant, you can freeze the extra stalks. Cut off the leaves and chop into small similar size pieces, place in a freezer bag, remove the air and freeze.
I keep finding new ways to use rhubarb by creating new recipes for cakes and pies with jams and sauces yet to be explored. Unfortunately we don’t grow it in our garden but I’m putting a bug in Tom’s ear. Stalks have also been available in the grocery stores for a few weeks now. I recently learned how to pick rhubarb, you grab the stalk at the crown and pull it straight up…voila…it worked perfectly! I’m lucky to have a friend, Tanny Nitterhouse, who offered me a gifted batch of fresh red and green stalks and boy did it make a lovely plant-based pie!
ENJOY SPRING!