Unique, quick, and delicious recipe with rhubarb

Enjoy this savory recipe with rhubarb, where rhubarb shines without being laden with sugar. 

Rhubarb, asparagus, and green onions are in season over here. Time to profit from these random fresh veggies before they are out of the market!

I love rhubarb for its beautiful, distinctive pink-scarlet hue, tart, and unique tangy taste.

In this recipe, the soft white beans and crunchy asparagus balance rhubarb's sharp, tangy-tart taste giving you a surprisingly delectable dish that I recommend you try.

Make sure to choose fresh thin asparagus that are firm and vibrant in color.

How to choose rhubarb 

The color of rhubarb varies from pink, deep red to green. Even though I love red and pink ones, the color doesn't affect the flavor of the final dish.

Apparently, there're 2 types of rhubarbs'. One with large stalks and has a deep red color, and the other with thin stalks with a mix of green and red hues.

Choose rhubarb that's firm without bruises, depending on what is available in your market/groceries. The color should be bright and shiny, otherwise, the browning may indicate that the rhubarb is rotting.

Look for rhubarb with some green leaves on; this will indicate the freshness but do not ever eat the leaves!

Rhubarb cooks relatively fast. For this recipe, I choose young and thin stalks. 

Preferably, buy only the amount of rhubarb you need for the week, and store them uncut in your fridge wrapped in kitchen or kraft paper for up to a week or two.

Do you need to peel rhubarb?

It depends! I've always used fresh rhubarb that do not require peeling. Peeling means throwing away antioxidants (anthocyanins) which gives the rhubarb the red, deep color!

However, if you have huge stalks, especially at the end of the season, you might need to peel the fibrous base.

How to make this savory rhubarb dish

This recipe is quite fast. So do mise en place before you start the cooking.

• Clean the vegetables.
• Chop or press the garlic and set aside.
• Slice the red onions.
• Separate the green onions from the white and split the white into two. Keep the base intact so that the white onion doesn't fall apart. Chop a few green onions.
• Trim off the rigid base for the asparagus and reserve those for a broth. Cut the remaining stems 3 cm long, leaving the tops slightly longer (see the photos).
• Trim off the ends of rhubarb, then cut into diagonal pieces of 3 to 4 cm large. Do not cut the stalk lengthwise.
• Rinse and drain the beans.

For the cooking steps, see the full recipe card.

Check out these rhubarb recipes.

• Rhubarb recipe with radish greens
• Sugar-free apple rhubarb chutney

📖 Recipe

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5 from 2 votes

Unique, quick, and delicious recipe with rhubarb.

Enjoy this savory recipe where rhubarb shines without being laden with sugar. It's simple, quick and easy to cook.

Prep Time7 minutes mins

Cook Time10 minutes mins

Total Time17 minutes mins

Course: dinner, Side Dish

Cuisine: American, anti-inflammatory, French, Mediterranean

Diet: Diabetic, Gluten Free, Vegan

Keyword: asparagus recipes, rhubarb recipes, savory rhubarb recipes, stewed rhubarb

Servings: 2 servings

Calories:

Author: Githu

Cost: $7

Equipment

• Chopping board
• kitchen knife
• skillet
• cooking wooden spoon

Ingredients

• ¼ teaspoon cumin seeds
• ¼ teaspoon coriander seeds
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 medium red onion
• 2 tablespoon cold-pressed olive/coconut oil
• 3 small new green onions (separate the white from the greens)
• 6-8 slender fresh asparagus (green)
• 1 cup butter beans or other white beans/chickpeas
• 4 thin rhubarb stalk (fresh)
• a pinch of salt
• black pepper (optional)
• ½ lemon

Instructions

• Clean and pat dry the veggies with a kitchen paper
• Do the mise en place (read the blog post)
• On a dry heating skillet, toast the seeds till fragrant (3 mins).
• Add sliced red onion and oil. Stir with a wooden spoon, then cover to cook for 2 mins.
• Add to the pan the white onions bulbs and the asparagus stems. Cover to cook for 3 mins.
• Bring in rinsed and drained beans. Stir gently, then cover for 2 mins.
• Now bring the asparagus shoots (tops), the rhubarb, garlic, and the chopped green onion. Cover to cook for 3 mins; The rhubarb should not cook into compote.
• Remove from the heat, if the rhubarb is still firm, cover the skillet and leave the steam to cook it for 3 mins.
• Serve this savory rhubarb as a side dish with rice, quinoa, or on its own. Squeeze the lemon juice on top.

Notes

• To better appreciate rhubarb, choose thin to medium stalks. Thin stalks will cook very fast, while the thick ones might not cook on time. Cut bite-size pieces that will cook in 2-3 mins.
• The asparagus shoots/tops can be eaten raw. Therefore, slightly cook them with rhubarb.
• You can substitute the white beans with chickpeas.
• The new onion bulbs should be small, if not, cook them a bit longer than the time indicated. You do not have to use all the green onions. 
• Do not add colored spices like curry, paprika, etc., because they'll alter the vibrant color of the dish!
• After cooking, do not leave the dish covered for longer than 3 mins, otherwise, the rhubarb will turn into compote!