Rhubarb Salad

[minoanmiss]

No wonder rhubarb was so popular in places where citrus wasn't available.

! stalk rhubarb, about 1/4 to 1/2 pound depending on size
1 bulb fennel
assorted other fruit (I like canned tropical fruit for its sweetness and wild blueberries for their visual impact and nutrition), diced about 1/4 inch
2 tbsp to 1/4 cup candied or sushi-pickled ginger, diced as small as possible by hand
1/8 tsp salt

Dice up the fruit and ginger and place in a large mixing bowl
trim the fennel bulb of its bruised outer layers, stems, and core. Reserve about 2 tbsp fronds
Retrieve your paddle slicer.
Use the paddle slicer to turn the fennel into a pile of shavings.
Roughly peel the rhubarb by pulling off outer tough strands. Trim the ends.
Use the paddle slicer to turn the rhubarb into a pile of translucent green slices.
Wash your hands again. Add the salt to the mixing bowl.
Using your hands, toss all the salad ingredients together well. The rhubarb will try to stick in clumps of slices. Don't let it.

Comments

[med_cat]

sounds tasty

[minoanmiss]

It is! I mean, rhubarb is exotic to me, so I'm really enoying its fresh tart greenness.

[sovay]

No wonder rhubarb was so popular in places where citrus wasn't available.

Now I want to make a strawberry lemon pie.

[minoanmiss]

Oooh that would be so good!

Cooked or raw? If raw, gelatin set? If cooked, chess? Double crust? fruit pre-cooked or cooked inside crust?

Brainstorming pie!

[sovay]

Cooked or raw? If raw, gelatin set? If cooked, chess? Double crust? fruit pre-cooked or cooked inside crust?

I vote cooked, chess, single crust: I've never done that kind without pre-baking the crust and am thus inclined to cook the fruit inside it, but admit I am not confident that the strawberries won't completely liquefy if from scratch. Thoughts?

[minoanmiss]

Macerate the sliced strawberries overnight, drain off the syrup, and serve it with the finished pie?

[sovay]

Macerate the sliced strawberries overnight, drain off the syrup, and serve it with the finished pie?

Want.

[magid]

Shaker lemon pie starts with thinly sliced whole lemons, macerated overnight, then add some eggs, put in pie crust, and bake. So the strawberries might fit in well to that sort of pie....

[minoanmiss]

I think strawberries have a higher water content than lemons, though, so I was thinking of macerating them separately and only adding them to the pie mix once drained.

[magid]

Sure... or up the number of eggs....?

[amaebi]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhubarb_Triangle

[anotherslashfan]

Whoa! I didn't know that you could eat rhubarb raw. Here we either cook it with sugar, make jam/marmalade of it, or use it for baking. I honestly thought it was indigestible raw. Intriguing.

[anna_wing]

The stalk can be eaten raw but not the leaves, which are toxic.

[minoanmiss]

I didn't either until I read a recipe for raw rhubarb juice, upon which I tried raw rhubarb with sugar and found I liked it much better than cooked rhubarb. And of course, stems only!

[cmcmck]

I do LOVE rhubarb!

[minoanmiss]

Have you ever had it raw?

[cmcmck]

Tried it once as a kid and found it a bit much.

I should perhaps have another go!

[magid]

I saw some beautiful rhubarb stalks at the Central Sq farmers market.... for $7.50/lb. Oof.

[mekare]

That sounds like a delcicious and interesting salad. I‘ve never had rhubarb raw either, though I ADORE it in cakes and muffins (often paired with strawberries, or combined with meringue topping).

[minoanmiss]

this salad would work really well with strawberries, either chopped or sliced.

I think it's the thin slicing that does the trick with the rhubarb. it defeats the stringiness much the way cooking does.

[acelightning73]

Rhubarb behaves a lot like celery when you slice it. And the leaves are toxic. There's enough oxalic acid in the plant that your hands might get irritated from handling it (rubber gloves). And people who are susceptible to kidney stones shouldn't eat rhubarb because of the oxalic acid (stones are mostly calcium oxalate, which forms in the body).

Rhubarb as an ingredient to add a tart flavor is like the recipes for switchel (a hot-weather drink similar to lemonade) which is made with vinegar. Since if you've already fermented some sugar to alcohol (hard cider, wine, ale) it's easy to let the bacteria ferment the alcohol into acetic acid. And sometimes a bit of a sour tangy flavor adds contrast to a dish. But I'm glad someone in a hot climate grew some lemons and juiced them, and froze the juice so it's convenient to ship and store, so I can throw a squirt of lemon juice into my pie filling. I find the odor of acetic acid highly unpleasant.