Hi Friends,
When Rhubarb comes into season, I find myself terrified of it. I know dramatic right? I have this push pull relationship with it, I want to try it but I don’t... is it a fruit or a vegetable? Not sure if it’s the long stalks that resemble celery? Wait, it’s poisonous?
Lately, I have been trying to FACE the scary things in life and the kitchen. One of the most pressing fears I’ve been avoiding like the plague, is cooking with ingredients I’m unfamiliar with. The ingredients look scary or hard to work with, I tell myself that I can’t do it, and freeze up. That mentality has me stuck, and I don't want to be stuck anymore. HENCE facing The RHUBARB FEAR. It’s weird as it sounds that cooking could be fear based, but sometimes that’s how things comes up. These days I find I learn most about myself through cooking, can you relate?
Part of the journey in facing the scary thing, is to Acknowledge the FEAR - “RHUBARB scares the shit out of me!” Recognize, checking in with yourself and asking, is it a thought or Story I’m telling myself? What’s the truth here? My Truth, ‘I felt that If I fucked up cooking with rhubarb on the first try I would be a failure”. After sitting with those questions, I realized I told myself a STORY. WHAT a STORY I told myself indeed, and why do I need to put that pressure on myself?
NEW MONTRA, GIRL you’ve got this, COOK the damn thing and GET ON WITH IT.! You may fuck it up, but WHO cares it’s no big DEAL. Here is the thing, the best part of cooking is the failure, trying new things, it’s not about PERFECTION but the journey in getting to the destination (or final dish in this case) I realized that sometimes scary things aren't as scary as you thought they were. It’s that simple.
What are the stories you’re telling yourself right now about cooking? Or about life? Keep going friends. x
Now let's COOK!
X
Nicole
Tips for cooking with RHUBARB;**
-When picking your Rhubarb, don't skimp. Make the extra trip to the farmers market, they have the good stuff. Look for deep tones in the stalks, deep red + pink. If they are pale they were picked too soon, they won’t be rich in taste.
-DON'T eat the LEAVES, they are poisonous. Clean the stalks and discard the leaves.
STRAWBERRY RHUBARB CRUMBLE RECIPE
INGREDIENTS:
For the filling;
- 2 cups chopped rhubarb, cleaned and leafs discarded
- 2lbs cleaned and chopped strawberries
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- ¼ cup organic coconut sugar
- 1 tsp organic vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg ( add one ½ tsp if like spicy)
- 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ground ginger
- pinch of pink salt
* For the topping;
- 3 cups gf rolled oats
- 1 stick of vegan cashew butter COLD (I use MiyoKo’s brand)
- 1/4 cup coconut sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1/4th tsp ground cinnamon
- ¼ ground ginger
- 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/4 cup gf flour
TOOLS YOU WILL NEED: Non stick spray, a 9x9 or 9x8 baking dish, bowls for mixing the topping.
DIRECTIONS;
- Chop your strawberries and rhubarb set aside. Measure out all your ingredients and set aside. Pre- heat the oven to 350 degrees. In a medium dutch oven or saucepan put over medium heat, then cook your rhubarb with ¼ cup sugar. Until they are tender, turn your stove off and add in your chopped strawberries, lemon juice, pinch of pink salt, spices and vanilla. Give it a good stir. Set aside.
- Prep a baking dish with non stick spray, (9x9 or 9x8 works great). Make sure its deep. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl add all your topping ingredients EXCEPT the VEGAN BUTTER. Give a light mix with a spatula.
- With your hands break up the cold butter into your topping ingredients bowl. It doesn't have to be perfect, and you're looking for a small chunk type texture. Do this until all the butter is mixed in.
- Pour your filling into the baking pan. Then sprinkle your topping on top until it's coated evenly.
- Bake in the oven for 20-35 min at 350 degrees. Let cool on a cooling rack for 15-20 min and then serve with vanilla ice cream, whipped cream, yogurt or creme fresh!
