Ruby Rhubarb

Do certain foods plunge you down memory lane at 100 miles an hour?  Rhubarb is one of those foods for me.  It conjures up my mum, breakfasts, desserts, the veggie garden, and my pony.

What?!  My pony?  Yup!  Because aside from being an incredibly delicious food, rhubarb leaves are really toxic and it would be disastrous if my pony leaned over the veggie garden fence and ate them.  Did you know that rhubarb is actually a vegetable?  It's from the same family (Polygonaceae) as buckwheat and sorrel.

While wandering through the farmers market (here) I spotted some raw rhubarb for sale.    This veggie is not at all common in Singapore, so I couldn't pass up a chance to recreate Mum's stewed rhubarb for my breakfast - perfect with breakfast quinoa (recipe here) and a few dollops of yoghurt.

I've only ever stewed rhubarb, and eaten it as a breakfast or dessert food.  How else can it be eaten?

Don't forget the chia sprinkle

Stewed Rhubarb

Recipe adapted from one of Jamie Oliver's (here).

I prefer to sweeten my stewed fruit myself, so always add less sugar.  Jamie calls for an orange and orange zest, but I only had lemon or lime available.  

Ingredients:

• 500g rhubarb stalks, rinsed and chopped into 3cm pieces
• 2T raw sugar
• 1t vanilla essence
• 2t freshly ground ginger
• 1/2 lime - juice and zest
• 1/4 C water

Method:

Pop all ingredients in a saucepan and simmer over a low heat for ~ 10 minutes, or until rhubarb is stewed.

The more you stir the rhubarb, the less chunky it will be - up to you!