Have you heard about this mysterious vegetable and in fact many would say it's a fruit?
Rhubarb is commonly considered as a vegetable obviously due to its large leaves which are somewhat triangular in shape with long fleshy stalks. Although the leaves are not being eaten due to its toxicity, other parts such as the stalk have medicinal and culinary uses. Fresh raw stalks are crisp with a strong bitter-sweet taste. Most commonly the rhubarb stalks are cooked with sugar and baked in pies and other desserts.
In traditional flavoring, rhubarb is served with ice-cream or cream. Its naturally bitter-sweet taste is usually disguised by a few heaps of sugar, and no doubt if you tried some fresh rhubarb today you would be left squinting a little.
Rhubarb isn't extremely versatile, it must be said, but nevertheless it contains solid health benefits. It is a good source of fiber, calcium, and vitamin C, and is said to reduce cholesterol and heartburn. It is also recommended by dieticians to combat hot flushes in menopausal women.
You can try and use rhubarb in your daily diet and amongst some preparation tips are:
- For a refreshing summer-come-spring dessert, simmer it in honey and served with whipped coconut cream; a positive paleo alternative to buying dairy-laden cream or ice-cream.
- To add as a natural sweetener, crush up strawberries, raspberries and blackberries and add rhubarb to this mix.
- If you want to go a little further and serve this up to dinner guests, alternately layer a sundae glass with the simmered rhubarb and whipped coconut cream; then decorate on top with ground nuts, dried fruit and/or desiccated coconut.
- Rhubarb is also awesome within tarts, but be sure to use almond meal or another paleo-friendly option for the tart base such as the chestnut pastry I use for some recipes within Paleo Sweets.
If you're a fan of desserts, and miss the classics like ice-cream, cakes, cookies, jelly and mousse, and all the other treats that are supposed to be bad for you, then why torment yourself any longer?
You can still eat sweet treats with paleo friendly ingredients and you can easily recapture those moments with this Paleo Sweets cookbook, including recipes for homemade dried fruit and paleo friendly protein bars.
You can still eat sweet treats with paleo friendly ingredients and you can easily recapture those moments with this Paleo Sweets cookbook, including recipes for homemade dried fruit and paleo friendly protein bars.