It feels like a natural instinct to turn rhubarb into dessert.
Sometimes it’s simply dipping a stalk of rhubarb into sugar and taking a big bite (Jason taught me this trick), but honestly, I usually want to add copious amounts of butter or cream (or both) and bake it into pie and cake, or churn it into ice cream.
Last week I was lazily scanning through my favorite Ottolenghi cookbook, Plenty More, and realized I’d never cooked the cover (which is a must, it’s the cover for a reason). The recipe was a beet and rhubarb salad, tossed together with red onion, gorgonzola, and a healthy dose of parsley. I’d never tried rhubarb in salad, but if anyone was going to lead me down a new rhubarb path, surely it had to be Ottolenghi.
I’m sure it will surprise absolutely no one to know that his recipe is perfection. I followed it to almost to the word, substituting only a few tiny ingredients that I didn’t have on hand.
The sweetness from the roasted beets, the tartness from the rhubarb, and the creaminess from the gorgonzola cheese came together to make a unique and delicious salad which Jason and I enjoyed as our entree (we seem to be eating lots of salads for dinner these days).
This has got to be the last recipe I share from the cookbook, I’ve given away too much good stuff. Just go buy your own copy, it’s absolute gold.
- 9 medium beets of various kinds
- 10½ oz trimmed rhubarb (about 7 stalks), cut on the diagonal into 1 inch pieces
- 2½ tablespoons sugar
- 2 teaspoons white wine vinegar
- 2 teaspoons pomegranate molasses
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- ½ teaspoon ground allspice
- ½ teaspoon Kosher salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1 small red onion, thinly sliced
- ⅔ cup flat leaf parsley
- 3½ oz Gorgonzola
- Preheat oven to 425F.
- Wrap beets individually in foil, place on a baking sheet, and roast in the oven until soft (30-70 minutes, depending on size). Let beets cool, rub off peel, and chop into ¾ inch pieces.
- Meanwhile, toss rhubarb with sugar and spread in a single layer on a foil-lined baking sheet. Bake for 12 minutes, until pieces have softened without becoming mushy. Set aside to cool.
- In a large bowl, combine vinegar, molasses, maple syrup, olive oil, allspice, salt, and a dash of black pepper. Add onion and set aside for a few minutes to soften. Add parsley and beets and stir well. Just before serving, add Gorgonzola and rhubarb, along with the juices. Gently toss before serving.
Recipe from Plenty More.
[…] Get the complete recipe for Rhubarb & Beet Salad […]
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