Rhubarb! (And a recipe)

Rhubarb is one of those things I don’t really think about eating until I see it and think, “Hey, I should cook something out of that.”

On my parent’s property there are several small patches of rhubarb that spring up every year.  I think the plants have been there quite a long time since this land was my great-grandparent’s way back in the day and they are near where the old barn used to be. Perennial vegetables are so cool!

I’ve been waiting for a while for the rhubarb to get big enough to pick, this week it was finally time to snap off the first few crimson stalks and cut them up to make a strawberry rhubarb crisp.

The kids helped pick and prepare the rhubarb- they love cutting up veggies for me.

I love that they love to help!

To the bowl of cut rhubarb we added some sugar, lemon juice and sliced strawberries along with some chia seeds for extra protein and mixed it up and poured it into a greased baking pan. Next we mixed a cup each of flour, rolled oats, some butter and a bit of brown sugar til it was crumbly and sprinkled it on top of the fruit. We baked it for about 25 minutes and it was so good! The rhubarb was super juicy and still tart and had a tiny bit of firmness to it (so if you like it softer, cook the crisp a bit longer) and the topping was delicious.

I used this recipe from Ina Garten as a guide and followed it loosely- mostly I just used the measurements and added and subtracted a few ingredients.
The crisp turned out so yummy I forgot to snap a picture before it was gobbled up, but you’ll have to take my word for it that it was actually as pretty to look at as it was good to eat. 🙂

Once strawberries are in season and cheaper than they are now, we’ll be making strawberry rhubarb jam. I can’t wait!

What dishes do you use rhubarb in? I’d love some new ideas!