If you have ever seen large, red ‘celery' in the produce department, it's not celery at all, but a plant called rhubarb. While rhubarb is actually a vegetable, we eat it as if it were a fruit. It has an earthy, tart flavor, and like cranberries, is usually never eaten without sugar.
Rhubarb appears in markets as early as January and continues to be available through early summer. Spring stalks are the juiciest and most-tender. You can tell when rhubarb is fresh by stalks that are flat and not limp. The deeper red the stalks, the sweeter the plant.
Generally rhubarb plans come to market without their leaves. The reason is that rhubarb leaves are poisonous. If your stalks do have leaves, cut them off and discard them before cooking. You can peel rhubarb, if desired, but you do not have to. Since rhubarb is very acidic, cook it in a non-reactive pan such as stainless steel or enamel.
Rhubarb not only tastes good, but is good for you, too. One cup of raw rhubarb contains 26 calories and 2 grams of fiber. Rhubarb has a natural affinity to strawberries, cherries, orange and ginger. You will find many recipes for strawberry/rhubarb or cherry/rhubarb desserts.
You can purchase rhubarb at Sprouts or Superstition Ranch Market in Mesa.
Try some rhubarb this season. You will be glad you did.
Try our strawberry rhubarb crumble recipe
Not sure how to pick the best strawberries, read all about it.
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