rhubarb

Four Courses

June 26, 2010 by greg Leave a Comment

I was inspired reading food blogs to make a light and healthy multi-course dinner that would please the palate but not pack on the pounds. I think I succeeded.

First up: Tomato and Rhubarb Salad with Taragon

This salad exceeded all my expectations. For two servings I used one half of a tomato, chopped, and two thin stalks of celery. To this was added a couple tablespoons of fresh French tarragon – the kind that has that nice anisey bite to it. A couple tablespoons of olive oil, a splash of rice vinegar, a sprinkle of sugar, salt and pepper and that was all it took to create this salad. I served it on a bed of shredded romaine lettuce. The tarragon married beautifully with the tomato and rhubarb.

Second course: Eggplant and Tomato over Shiratake Tofu Noodles

I have fallen in love with Shiratake noodles. They are made from soybeans, have very low carbs and essentially no calories (20 per serving). I took one Asian eggplant and the other half of that tomato and stewed it up with salt, pepper and garlic. I added a splash of balsamic vinegar and finished the dish with fresh oregano.

Third course: Chicken and Herb Sausage with Sprouted Peas and Carrots

I have been experimenting with sprouts lately. One of the things I have discovered are the dried green and yellow whole peas from my local Indian market sprout beautifully. I just soak them overnight in water, drain them and then rinse the peas two or three times a day. After a few days the start to show their roots. I love them at this stage. They are not quite as sweet as a fresh pea but not as starchy as the dried peas. They are alive and the starches are being acted upon by enzymes to convert the starch to the plants food, sugar. They cook up nicely. This dish was a simple sauté of the peas, carrots and sausage. What really made the dish was the addition of dried chipotle pepper. It provided a wonderful spicy smokiness that tied it all together.

Last but not least: Spicy Garlic Shrimp and Soba

I just threw together some shrimp, garlic, commercial chili flakes in oil, salt and pepper and flash sautéed them. Just as the shrimp were about done I threw in cooked soba noodles and tossed them all together in the pan. YUMMY!

Hope you enjoyed this. You CAN make great tasting food without the fat and calories.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: chicken sausage, eggplant, light and healthy, rhubarb, salad, shiratake, shrimp, soba, sprouted peas, tomato

Rhubarb Jam

July 2, 2008 by greg 1 Comment

We’re not done with rhubarb yet! Our rather cool season has kept it tasting good. I don’t see an end to it anytime soon. My rhubarb is the green variety. Not as pretty to look at as the red rhubarb, but it tastes just the same, if not better. I decided to make some rhubarb jam. So easy to do and so tasty. I just took 4 pounds of chopped rhubarb and 4 cups of sugar together in a big pot. I added a tsp of pectin. It doesn’t really need much as rhubarb has a fair amount of pectin naturally. This was cooked down for about an hour or so until it was at the thickness (when cooled) that I like for jam.

I preserved the jam by processing in a boiling water canner for 15 minutes to seal the jars. I didn’t have very many small jars but these pint jars did the trick.

The jam doesn’t have to be canned. You can always freeze it in jars. Leave some head space for expansion. The jam will last for a few weeks in the fridge.

Warmed up this makes an amazing rhubarb sauce for ice cream too.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: jam, rhubarb

Rhubarb Custard Bars

June 29, 2008 by greg 4 Comments

These are SO good. Every year my neighbor’s mother always asks for rhubarb from my garden. She always brings over a few bars of heavenly goodness after she transforms my sad old green rhubarb into pure pleasure. She gave me the recipe recently and I’ve made them myself. Not for the diet conscious, that’s for sure, but these are so worth it, it doesn’t matter.

Rhubarb Custard Bars
(Thanks to Arliss Thomas)

Crust:
2 cups flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 cup margarine (I use butter)

Filling:
2 cups sugar
7 tbps flour
1 cup whipping cream
3 eggs, beaten
5 cups chopped rhubarb

Topping:
1 8-oz pkg cream cheese
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 cup whipping cream, whipped

In a bowl combine the flour and sugar. Cut in the margarine (or butter) until it is coarse. Press into a greased 9×13 baking pan. Bake at 350°F for 10 minutes. While the crust is baking prepare the filling by combining the sugar and flour in a bowl. Whisk in the cream and eggs. Stir in the chopped rhubarb. Pour the filling over the crust and bake at 350°F for 40-45 minutes or until the custard is set. Cool completely. For the topping beat together the cream cheese, sugar and vanilla until smooth. Fold in the whipped cream. Spread over the cooled bars. Cover and refrigerate.

Filed Under: dessert Tagged With: bars, rhubarb

Savory Rhubarb and Lentil Soup

June 22, 2008 by greg 3 Comments

I like savory rhubarb dishes and my rhubarb corner in the garden is overflowing with bounty right now. I was thinking about soup since I just bought a nice new Le Crueset soup pot on sale from amazon. A quick google search pointed me to just the inspiration I was looking for. I found a recipe for Rhubarb-Lentil Soup with Crème Fraîche. My proportions were slightly different and I made it from what I had on hand. The soup turned out really wonderful. The rhubarb completely disintegrates in the soup. If you didn’t know it was there you probably wouldn’t be able to identify it as rhubarb but it does add a foundation of tartness that is so important for this recipe.

Here is the ingredient list for my savory rhubarb lentil soup:

1 cup green lentils
1.5 cups chopped onions
1.5 cups chopped carrots
2.5 cups chopped rhubarb
6 cloves garlic
3/4 cup white wine
3.5 cups chicken stock
2 pinches dried thyme
2 bay leaves
salt and pepper to taste
4 tbsp plain yogurt
1 tbsp fresh dill

First the lentils. I used dried green lentils and presoaked them with boiling water for 15 minutes to soften them and speed up their cooking.

The rhubarb, carrots, onions and garlic were all finely diced or chopped.

I started with a hot soup pot (I really love this Le Crueset!). A tbsp of olive oil and the onions and carrots went in first. These were seasoned with salt and pepper and sautéed for about 5 minutes until the onions were starting to soften nicely.

Next the rhubarb and garlic were added. These were cooked for 3-4 minutes until the rhubarb started to soften and disintegrate.

Here’s what it looked like after the rhubarb was broken down.

I deglazed the pot with the white wine (2004 Santa Rita sauvignon blanc from Chile). The chicken stock and lentils were then added. I threw in a couple of bay leaves and a pinch of thyme. The soup was brought up to a boil, covered and allowed to simmer.

After about 40 minutes the lentis were nicely cooked through. I took about 1/3 of the soup mixture and puréed it in a blender until smooth. This was added back to the rest of the soup.

Instead of crème fraîche I used plain yogurt. This was mixed with fresh dill and dollopped on top of the soup. I also served a side salad with stawberries and walnuts. The greens were dressed with a bit of the yogurt/dill and some balsamic vinegar.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: lentils, rhubarb, soup

Rhubarb salad?

May 26, 2008 by greg 2 Comments

You bet! This salad turned out so good. Actually it has a lot more than rhubarb in it, but that is the secret ingredient that makes this dish very interesting. I started by chopping two large stalks of freshly picked rhubarb. In went one small red onion diced along with about a cup of chopped fresh asparagus. About 1.5 cups of cooked leftover brown rice was tossed in along with one can of drained and rinsed great northern beans. The whole shebang was flavored with the juice of one lime and half a lemon, salt and pepper to taste (a lot of pepper) and a good dose (~3 tbsp) of extra virgin olive oil. I love the tanginess and texture of the rhubarb pieces as you crunch down on them.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: brown rice, great northern beans, rhubarb, salad

Four Courses

Rhubarb Jam

Rhubarb Custard Bars

Savory Rhubarb and Lentil Soup

Rhubarb salad?

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