Rhubarb and Strawberry Dessert

This recipe always makes me think of summer. As far back as I can remember my dad has made this rhubarb dessert during the summer from the rhubarb plant that grows in my parent's backyard. In recent years he added strawberries to the mix to add more sweetness as rhubarb is pretty tart. This year my dad shared some of the rhubarb harvest with me so I got to make it on my own for the first time. Just a side note about rhubarb, the leaves are NOT edible. Only the stalks can be eaten and the stalk looks similar to celery, except it will be red when ripe. This can be eaten hot or cold (I prefer it cold) or even spread over some sponge cake.


Ingredients:

4 cups rhubarb, chopped
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/4 cup water
3/4 pint of strawberries, stemmed and sliced

Put the rhubarb, sugar and water into a pot over medium-high heat. Stir to distribute the sugar. I know that 1/4 cup of water doesn't seem like a lot, but the rhubarb will give off a lot of liquid as it cooks down. The cook time for the rhubarb will depend on the toughness so you can't walk away from this. Once the rhubarb is soft enough to mash use a potato masher until the chopped pieces are broken up and the rhubarb is mostly smooth (a few pieces of rhubarb is fine it won't be completely smooth). Then throw in the strawberry slices and stir to combine. Remove from the heat.

As I said above, it can be eaten right away, at room temperature or even put into the fridge to cool. The slight tartness of the rhubarb with the sweetness of the strawberries tastes like summer. Enjoy!