Best time of the year for Rhubarb

Rhubarb is one of my favorite vegetables that is seasonally spring.  It is so delicious and makes, in my opinion, THE BEST desserts.  Don’t get me wrong, I like to add rhubarb to main courses, but it doesn’t get much better than a good old fashioned rhubarb pie.  I wanted to share my love for this seasonally sweet vegetable with a few of my recipes.  I hope they seem just as delicious to you as they do to me!

Rhubarb Crumble

Ingredients-
• 1 ½ pound of rhubarb, just into small slices
• 2 cups of raspberries or strawberries (or if you are feeling crazy, both)
• 1 ¼ cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons of instant tapioca
• ½ tsp. grated orange zest
• 2 tbsp. fresh orange juice
• A dash of salt

Ingredients for topping-
• 6 tbsp. softened vegetarian butter
• ¼ cup packed light-brown sugar
• ¼ tsp. orange zest
• 1 cup flour
• Dash of salt

Instructions for topping-
• Mix butter, brown sugar, orange zest in a large bowl, electric mixers work great.  Mix until creamy.  Add flour and salt, work mixture until it forms coarse crumbs.

Instructions for Rhubarb-
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
• Mix rhubarb, berries, sugar, tapioca, orange zest, orange juice, and salt in a large bowl.
• Divide rhubarb mixture into six small, one cup baking dishes and top with topping.
• Bake for about 30-35 minutes until golden brown and it is bubbling a little bit.
• Let cool and serve, Enjoy!

My favorite Rhubarb Cake

Ingredients-
• ½ cup vegetarian butter
• 1 ½ white sugar
• ¼ cup soy yogurt
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 cups flour
• 1 tsp. bake soda
• ¼ tsp. salt
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 2 cups chopped rhubarb
• 1 tbsp. flour
• ¼ cup vegetarian butter
• 2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1 cup packed brown sugar

Instructions-
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
• In a large bowl, mix together butter, sugar, yogurt and vanilla until creamy.
• In another bowl sift 2 cups of flour, baking soda, and salt.  Add the buttermilk and combine with creamed mixture.
• Toss the rhubarb with 1 tbsp. flour and stir into the batter.  Pour the batter into a buttered 9 x 13 in pan and smooth the surface.
• In a separate bowl, blend together ¼ cup butter, cinnamon, and brown sugar.  Sprinkle evenly over the batter.
• Bake for 45 minutes, let cool and enjoy!

The Beloved Fresh Rhubarb Pie

Ingredients-
• 4 cups of chopped rhubarb
• 1 1/3 cups white sugar
• 6 tbsp. flour
• 1 tbsp. butter
• Pie Crust (Homemade or bought, your choice)

Instructions-
• Preheat oven to 450 degrees F
• Combine sugar and flour and sprinkle a ¼ of it over the pie crust.  Heap the rhubarb over this mixture and sprinkle the remaining sugar and flour over the top of the rhubarb.  Chop up pieces of butter and sprinkle over the top and cover with top crust.
• Bake for 15 minutes then reduce the heat to 350 degrees F and continue baking for 40-45 minutes.
• Enjoy your fresh rhubarb pie!


Go Green and Stay Keen,

Julie