Rhubarb: a pretty, delicious and healthy plant
Rhubarb is the basis for many delicious recipes, but did you know that it is also gaining ground as a decorative plant in the garden? We give you an overview of all sorts of interesting facts about rhubarb, its harvesting season, and a few (amazing) rhubarb recipes. Eager to know more? Then read on!
Three things to know about rhubarb
- Rhubarb is a member of the knotweed family and is cultivated for its edible parts. Although rhubarb is often used to make sweet treats such as rhubarb pie, rhubarb jam or rhubarb cake, it is not a fruit but a vegetable!
- Rhubarb was already used thousands of years ago in Chinese medicine for its positive health effects. This plant, recognisable by its large green leaves and long red stalks, is a great source of minerals.
The calcium in rhubarb strengthens your bones and helps your muscles and nervous system function properly. In addition, the potassium in rhubarb keeps your cardiovascular system healthy by controlling your blood pressure.
3 : Only the stalks of rhubarb are edible. The leaves contain toxic oxalic acid and should therefore be thrown in the compost heap.
Delicious but also pretty
Another option, which is growing in popularity, is to keep a rhubarb plant in your garden. The leaves might not be edible, but they are definitely decorative! These large, wavy, rounded leaves add an interesting element to your garden.
And best of all: during flowering, rhubarb also produces stalks with a multitude of small, plume-like flowers. They are wind pollinated and can be used in flower bouquets. So rhubarb is not only delicious, but also very beautiful! 😊
This is the time, this is the moment
Rhubarb is an easy-to-care-for plant that is best placed in the sun or under a light shade. The ideal time to plant rhubarb is around September-October or February-March. Rhubarb is best harvested around April. It can therefore be eaten from April to July.
Quick tip: stalks that are 2-4 weeks old are the best! They have a finer structure and a milder taste. Additionally, harvesting after 21 June (the longest day) is not recommended.
During the flowering period, the colour of the rhubarb varies from white to yellow to red. Tip: remove the flowering stalks to prevent your rhubarb plant from wearing itself out!
Do you prefer planting your rhubarb in a greenhouse? This is also possible! Fill a seedling pot with a mixture of topsoil and seedling soil and sow two seeds per pot. Then keep the temperature in the greenhouse around 18°C so that the rhubarb can grow well. A crop of one square meter in the greenhouse will give you about 4 kg of rhubarb stalks.
And off to the freezer!
After harvesting the rhubarb, you can put the stalks in the freezer. They will keep for up to 10 months. After which, there is no need to thaw it. Take the stalks out of the freezer and put them directly in a saucepan to start preparing your recipe 😊
Some delicious rhubarb recipes
Goat cheese salad with rhubarb compote 🐐
- Clean 200 g of rhubarb and cut the stalks into 1 cm pieces.
- Put the rhubarb in a saucepan, add 100 ml water, 70 g sugar and a vanilla pod and bring to the boil. Stir the mixture and let the rhubarb simmer for three minutes over low heat until the sugar has completely melted. Set aside to cool.
- Preheat the oven to 200°C. Cut 200 g of goat cheese into slices and cut four slices of bread into squares. Cover the bread with goat’s cheese and bake for 10 minutes.
- Wash the lettuce and mix it with a little olive oil in a large dish. Add the goat cheese toast, sprinkle with almonds and finish with black pepper. Bon appétit!
Rhubarb muffins
- Preheat the oven to 180°C.
- Clean 250 g of rhubarb and cut into small pieces. Rinse an orange under hot water, grate the zest and squeeze the fruit.
- Mix 1 tsp of baking powder with 250 g of flour. Then mix one egg with the orange juice, grated zest, 75 ml peanut oil, 125 g sugar, 1 tbsp vanilla sugar and 200 ml buttermilk.
- Slowly add the egg mixture to the flour. Mix in the rhubarb pieces and bake in the cupcake moulds for 25 minutes. Let them cool down a bit then enjoy! 😊
Raw rhubarb pieces
Rhubarb is also eaten raw: clean the stalk and cut it into small pieces that you dip in a little granulated sugar or honey ... A quick and incredibly tasty snack!
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