Oh, the things rhubarb can do!

For our Easter brunch I felt compelled to incorporate rhubarb somehow, but already had too many desserts. Hmmmm? Well, how about salad dressing? I often use OJ or other citrus in vinaigrettes, so why not some sort of rhubarb liquid. I had some ideas about how to do it and found a few recipes online. Apparently, others had thought similarly and executed the idea with good results. That was all I needed to give it a go.

Here's what I did. I took about 4 cups of frozen rhubarb (1 1/2" long pieces), added a half cup of orange juice, another 1/2 cup, or so, of water and tossed it in a saucepan with about 1/2 cup honey. I threw in some candied ginger that I needed to use up. I simmered the whole mess until the rhubarb started to fall apart (10-15 minutes) then strained it well, pressing down on the solids. 

I tossed the pulp and returned the liquid to the saucepan, adding a little sugar, since it was quite tart still. I reduced the mixture by about half until it was a little syrupy. I added some powdered cardamom and ginger at this point. Next time, I would put some cardamom pods and slices of fresh ginger in the original mixture. I am thinking I will make and freeze some of this reduction instead of just freezing the chopped rhubarb.

To make the dressing, I took about 1/2 cup of the reduction and added a few splashes of raspberry vinegar, 1-2 Tbs. poppy seeds, a little more sugar (this is a sweet dressing), and about 1/3 cup canola oil. No measurements—this is a taste thing really.  I tossed the dressing with baby spinach, sliced strawberries, and slivered almonds. Very good. The next week, I tossed it over spinach, apples, and pecans. It was also good. Pears, beets, goat cheese, dried cherries, mint. There are still more combos to be tried.


The rhubarb syrup/reduction was also great for mixed drinks. On Easter, we added it to our champagne drinks. I am stilling pondering a name for my favorite combination: rhubarb syrup, pear nectar, champagne, and mint sprigs. Later that week, I also tried it with vodka and a splash of Rose's Lime juice, which made a lovely rhubar-tini. With mixed juices, rum, and seltzer—not so good.


A little sweeter and it would be terrific over pancakes or waffles. The possibilities seem endless from here, as does my expected bumper crop of rhubarb. Who knew?