Happy Memorial Day weekend everyone!  It is rainy, damp, and dreary outside as I write to you, and nearly freezing!  I think it may have even been snowing/sleeting earlier today!  We have been having EXTREME weather this week.  I kid you not, but earlier this week it was 90 degrees! It’s crazy!  I guess I should be very thankful for this weather though, since other parts of the country have been hit hard by terrible tornadoes… And this weekend, I think the weather will improve and become a bit more normal for this time of year….. which is the perfect time of year to pick and cook with rhubarb!

For those of you who may not know, rhubarb is a plant, that has very sour stalks, which you can eat.  It is quite delicious, however it definitely does need sugar added to make it taste good.  Here are some cool facts about Rhubarb:

• Rhubarb is very high in vitamin C, and dietary fiber
• Rhubarb may be able to help to ease digestive problems and work to relieve constipation
• Rhubarb may help to prevent certain cancers
• Rhubarb may also help lower cholesterol
• Although the stalks are delicious and healthy, the leaves of this plant are poisonous, and should not be eaten

Source: Yeager, Selene. Prevention’s New Foods For Healing, 1998.

Anyways, I made a delicious rhubarb crisp, that you should all try!  It is tart, tangy, and sweet, with a little crunch!  I was able to use rhubarb from my Mom’s garden, but I do see it in grocery stores this time of year, and I am sure you could find it at your local farmer’s market.  Here is the recipe!

Ingredients:

Crisp:

• 1 cup uncooked oatmeal
• 1/3 cup flour
• 6 Tbsp butter
• 1/3 cup palm sugar (I used this because it had a lower glycemic index, but I think that regular brown sugar would work just as well)

Filling:

• 1 medium orange, zested, peeled and sectioned
• 5 cups rhubarb, chopped
• 2 Tbsp flour
• 2 Tbsp butter
• 1/2 cup palm sugar

Instructions:

Combine your rhubarb, orange zest, and orange sections, along with any juice that comes out of the orange while you are sectioning it.  When I say to section section the orange, I mean to cut off the skin, and then cut out the sections with a knife, so you don’t get any of the orange membrane.  Squeeze the “core” to get out all of the juice.  Also, a tip for cutting the rhubarb is to remove all of the strings.  The stalks are extremely stringy, like celery, but whenever you see strings, peel them off and remove them. Otherwise, they will not dissolve and make your crisp taste fibrous!  Stir in the sugar and flour so that the rhubarb is coated evenly.  Lay the mixture in a glass baking dish.  Cut your butter into pats and lay them on top of this mixture.  Next, we will work on the crisp.  Melt the butter, and stir in the flour, oatmeal, and sugar.  Drop this mixture over the rhubarb in the baking dish.  Use your fingers to press the mixture down so that you have an even crust over the rhubarb.  Bake in a 375 degree oven for 40-45 minutes.  Enjoy!