It's Rhubarb Time!

As you can see — I have a LOT of rhubarb. 

If you have some rhubarb in your yard, you know how amazingly fast it grows. Around the first of May, all we see are little red nubs sticking out of the ground. And in about a month, it’s at least 2 feet tall.

Everyone who visits in the summer asks, “What do you do with ALL THAT RHUBARB?!”

Well, first of all, I love looking at it — I think it’s beautiful! So I have no intention of harvesting all of it.

I also love the tangy taste of it -- so I definitely want to eat some of it.

But there is a problem with rhubarb.  It’s so sour you can’t really eat it without sweetening it. I used to make rhubarb pie,rhubarb jam, rhubarb sauce, and rhubarb crisp — all with TONS of sugar to make it tangy rather than downright sour.

However, as I’ve improved my diet over the years, I’ve become more and more reluctant to consume the empty calories of processed sugar.

But hold on — it's not hopeless! We just need to use a naturally sweet, whole-food sweetener to avoid the empty calories of processed sugar.

So once again — dates to the rescue!

It has taken a bit of experimenting, but I’ve come up with some pretty tasty recipes. The easiest of all is rhubarb “jam” with only 2 ingredients, or 3 if you count the water.

Rhubarb "Jam"
(Yield: about 2 cups)

2 cups rhubarb stalks, cut into about 1/2” pieces
1/4 cup water
1 cup dates or date pieces (10 Medjool)

Instructions:

1. Soak dates in water, just to cover, for about 10 minutes
2. Simmer rhubarb in water for a few minutes. It will begin to fall apart and make rhubarb sauce.
3. Drain dates and put in blender or food processor with rhubarb sauce
4. Process until as smooth as you like.

Enjoy this “jam” on toast, or add more water to make it a sweet/tangy topping for pancakes or waffles.

I recommend storing this ”jam” in small jars and keeping some in the freezer until ready to use. It will keep in the frig for about a week.

Note: Rhubarb leaves cannot be eaten, unfortunately. They are very high in oxalic acid and contain some other compounds which make the leaves toxic to eat. But touching the leaves doesn’t hurt you, and it is safe to compost the leaves.

I’ll include some other recipes for rhubarb in my upcoming cookbook, which we hope to have out in the fall.

Let me know in the comments below if you’ve discovered some other healthy ways to eat rhubarb — without using processed sugar. (Click the "Comments" text below to leave a comment.)