Crispy, juicy and tart, rhubarb definitely sounds more like a fruit than a vegetable. But before you move on to less peculiar and intimidating foods at the produce section, go ahead and grab yourself some rhubarb.

Rhubarb, a brightly colored vegetable that resembles celery, provides healthy amounts of calcium, potassium, manganese and vitamins C and K, among several other essential nutrients. In fact, rhubarb has more calcium than a cup of milk!

Thanks to these nutrients, rhubarb is able to confer a wide range of impressive health benefits, from youthful, glowing skin to a lower risk of heart disease.

Overall, rhubarb boasts an impressive nutritional profile and confers several health benefits. Finding a way to add rhubarb to your diet can help you take advantage of its nutrients and benefits.

Rhubarb recipes

Rhubarb‘s bright shades of red and pink, as well as its characterisic tartness, make it a tantalizing addition to both sweet and savory foods. Here are three healthy recipes you can try with some fresh rhubarb:

Rhubarb sweet and sour soup

Make the most of rhubarb’s natural tartness with this Vietnamese-inspired sweet and sour soup. Don’t worry about rhubarb overpowering the dish. Pineapples and tomatoes help balance it out!

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 4 tomatoes, quartered
• 3 rhubarb stalks, cut into chunks
• 1 spring onion, chopped
• 1/2 pineapple, cut into chunks
• 6 cups water
• 1/4 cup okra, deseeded and cut into rounds
• 2 tablespoons fish sauce
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon chopped coriander
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon crushed garlic
• 1 teaspoon gia vi spice mix

Preparation:

1. Heat olive oil in a saucepan. Saute garlic until fragrant.
2. Add tomatoes and 1/2 teaspoon of gia vi. Pour in enough water to cover and bring to a boil.
3. When tomatoes are soft, pour in the remaining water. Bring to a boil, then add rhubarb. Cook until soft, then stir in fish sauce, sugar and the remaining gia vi.
4. Add okra and pineapple. Cook for 15 more minutes.
5. Finish with spring onion and coriander. Serve immediately.

Grilled rhubarb with chard

Meat-lovers will love this recipe. Made with rich calf liver and sweet seasonal rhubarb, this dish looks as good as it tastes.

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 6 Swiss chard leaves and stalks
• 4 slices calves’ liver, membrane removed
• 3 sticks pink rhubarb, finely diced
• 1/4 cup goat’s cheese
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• Olive oil

Preparation:

1. Wash the chard and run a knife along the stalks to remove the leaves. Slice the stalks into strips, leaving the leaves whole.
2. Plunge the stalks in salted boiling water until soft but still have some bite. Remove stalks using a slotted spoon and repeat with the leaves. Drain well. Season stalks and leaves to taste with olive oil, salt, pepper and goat’s cheese. Set aside.
3. Heat olive oil in a smoking hot pan. Season livers to taste with salt and pepper. Working in batches, add livers to the pan and sear them on both sides. Transfer to a hot plate. Do not overcook the livers.
4. Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in the same pan. Add rhubarb, sugar, balsamic, salt and pepper. Cook for 1 minute.
5. Top the cooked livers with the cooked chard and rhubarb. Serve immediately.

Rhubarb and ginger bars

Make snacktime healthier with these rhubarb and ginger bars. While both ingredients are the last thing you’d probably grab for dessert, they make for a lovely snack combined.

Ingredients for servings:

• 3 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups diced rhubarb
• 5/6 cup sugar, divided
• 3/4 cup butter
• 5/8 cup whole-wheat flour
• 1 tablespoon potato starch
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• Juice from 1/2 lemon

Preparation:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line a small, square baking tin with parchment paper.
2. In a bowl, beat butter and sugar until light, then add flour and salt. Mix until a crust forms, then press it into the prepared baking tin. Bake for 15–20 minutes or until lightly browned. Set aside.
3. In a saucepan, cook rhubarb, ground ginger and 3 tablespoons of sugar over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally. Set aside to cool until lukewarm.
4. Once cool, place the softened rhubarb in a blender. Puree until smooth.
5. In another bowl, whisk eggs, lemon juice and 3 tablespons of sugar. Slowly add the pureed rhubarb and continue whisking until the ingredients are evenly incorporated. Stir in the potato starch.
6. Lower oven temperature to 325 F. Pour the rhubarb and ginger filling over the cooked crust. Bake it for 25–30 minutes or until the filling has set and no longer moves when the pan is jiggled.
7. You can serve the bars warm or chill them for a few hours for easier cutting.

Rhubarb is an incredibly nutritious vegetable that goes well with all kinds of dishes. Add rhubarb to your diet by mixing it into salads, roasting it with other veggies, baking it into pies or pureeing it to make soups.

Sources:

TheSpruceEats.com

TasteOfHome.com

TheGuardian.com