rhubarb – Page 4 – GUTSy Performance Nutrition

Blood Orange & Rhubarb Smoothie {Recipe Redux}

February 22, 2014September 27, 2014by Rebecca5 Comments

Last Valentine’s weekend William and I competed in a couple’s 5k race. This was the first time we’ve run such a race, where our scores and ages were combined and pitted up against a crazy-fast group of local runners. We’re often asked about running together, and though we do so only every now and again these days, our relationship did begin in part because of our mutual interest in running.

We were in the same college at OSU and happened to take a class together the last term of my senior year. Will strolled around like a laid-back California dude with his casual persona and curly blonde hair. He also routinely wore his Hood to Coast shirts. He was definitely the only guy in the class to do so. I was intrigued.

When we started hanging out, running was our first common ground and we began running together before we were officially dating, in the final weeks before Will’s annual Hood to Coast race. A year later, we both ran Hood to Coast. Through that experience, I learned that I could still find some speed after two hours of sleep, which was periodically interrupted by manic, nearby, cowbell ringing. Having a warm-up buddy at 4:30 am after those two unrestfull hours was a definite motivational plus.

Even though we haven’t been running together quite as often these days, Will has remained my biggest supporter. He routinely wakes up early and comes to races with me, and even when he doesn’t race, he dons his run outfit and champions me through the warm up and cool down. He stands right off the starting line and takes all my extra layers at the last moment and then strategically places himself near the finish and yells at me to sprint as if my life depends on it. I jokingly refer to him as my coach because he’s been at this racing business longer than I have and he is a true encourager.

Valentine’s Day may be past for this year, and we don’t truly celebrate it anyway, but we do celebrate the early mornings and post-workout meal of our favorite shared hobby as frequently as we can. We also share a love for healthy smoothies, and turn to them more often when amping up mileage.

As far as ingredients go, I tend to mix together stronger or more seasonal flavors, while Will consistently opts for a heavy dose of berries. I am a huge fan of rhubarb and have been hoarding last summer’s crop in the freezer for months now. Rhubarb happens to pair beautifully with oranges. Cue blood orange season, and our blender has been in a near constant state of pink-smoothie-use for several weeks straight!

It may not feel like it lately, but spring is just around the corner and rhubarb is one of the earliest spring crops in these parts of Western Oregon. If you’re lucky enough to have your own plant, throw a dark pot over it, and you can begin to force it out of its winter dormancy. I did this at the school garden in early January, and we are well on our way to having rhubarb ready to harvest a couple months earlier! If you are not in possession of a rhubarb plant or a freezer full of last year’s cache, you can bet there is a farmer that knows this trick and will have the first rhubarb of the season in the market soon, just in time for the last of the blood oranges! Happy smoothie sipping and early season running!

Rhubarb & Blood Orange Smoothie, serves 2

2 blood oranges, peeled and diced

1 Tbs. chia seeds

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

1 cup unsweetened almond milk

1 1/2 cups rhubarb sauce*

stevia drops or sweetener, to taste

Pour all the ingredients into a blender and mix until it is thick and creamy. Season to taste with sweetener.

*For rhubarb sauce, chop rhubarb into small pieces, pour into a medium stock pot, add about an inch of water, and heat to boiling. Turn down to a simmer and cook until the fibers have broken down and the mixture begins to get thick. I don’t add any sweetener at this point, but you certainly can sweeten it to taste, if you like.

Spring, Summertime

Rhubarb Granola & Vanilla-Orange Rhubarb Sauce

June 18, 2013by RebeccaLeave a Comment

I did not grow up in a family of cooks. My favorite cooking memory with my grandma involved making pumpkin pie with the recipe from the back of the Libby’s can. She advised me to cut the spices in half. When I didn’t, she told me it was the best pumpkin pie she’d ever had and wondered what magical thing I had done.

My mom, bless her, taught me how to cook and then promptly let me loose in the kitchen to continue making years of dinner onward, up until I moved away. Whenever I’m home for a visit, the status quo is accepted without question. Perhaps out of survival, or because I’m an odd duck in this family of ranchers, I’ve been fascinated with food since before I was taught how to use a measuring cup. Knife skills were a self-educating adventure, and only when I come home am I reminded that I had no idea what I’d been missing out on all those years.

Sharp knives have never had a place in my mom’s kitchen. I ventured to stock her kitchen with one or two nice knives a few years back, though they’ve not been sharpened since. The rest of the knife drawer includes a random collection that couldn’t have cost more than five bucks a piece. Now that I know the wonders of a good knife, I shudder at slicing and dicing in my mother’s kitchen.

I am home with my parents and W for a few days, in between life ventures and to help celebrate my sister’s wedding. As much as I complain and paint an unfortunate picture, I love being home. I get to wake up to noise from family afoot. I get to sit in a sunny yellow room with windows on every wall, opening to a ranch scene of cows and pasture and rail fence and my favorite old barn, the one that is leaning a fair bit. I get to drink my tea in this room and enjoy breakfast with others. I can sit out on the front porch in the Adirondack chair and watch the day go by (more of the same scenery). I can do the same on the back patio. My favorite running route begins at this farmhouse. My old 4-H horse will run my direction for a rub when I call her from the edge of the pasture. I can bake sweets every day, knowing they won’t go to waste and I can start again with something new the next. I can be as adventurous as I like because if it has sugar in it, my dad will eat it. I can wander to the garden, and harvest what I want to eat.

My mother is an avid gardener, and there is always fresh produce in this season. Perhaps in part because I steal rhubarb every time I visit in the spring, my mom planted several more plants. She is a veritable rhubarb farmer now, as there is an excess that only someone who loves to spend time in the kitchen can begin to use up. That’s what I’m here for. Chopping thick stalks of rhubarb with a dull knife. Making rhubarb sauce and rhubarb granola.

There is nothing I love more than rhubarb and oats. Except perhaps the rhubarb yogurt pairing found in Ireland. Make sauce with honey and orange and vanilla. I’ve been making it all spring and dishing it up atop anything and everything. I like my sauce a touch on the tart side, but add as much honey as you like. The sauce is perfectly poised to take part in this lovely crunchy, chunky granola, which come to think of it, I may or may not share, because my dad, who also loves rhubarb, will have gone before I can blink!

Vanilla-Orange Rhubarb Sauce

a pot full of rhubarb, cleaned and chopped (approximately 8 big stalks)

1 Tbs. pure vanilla extract (or a vanilla bean if one can be sourced)

zest from one whole orange

3-4 Tbs. raw honey (or to taste)

Chop rhubarb and throw in a large pot. Add honey, orange zest, vanilla, and a touch of water for moisture. Bring to a low boil, and then simmer until the rhubarb has cooked down until thick and creamy. Take off the heat and let cool.

Rhubarb Granola

3 cups old-fashioned oats

1 1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup raw almonds, lightly toasted and chopped

1/2 cup raw Hazelnuts, lightly toasted and chopped

3 Tbs. extra virgin olive oil

3 Tbs. raw honey

about 3/4 cup Rhubarb Sauce

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a sauté pan, lightly toast almonds and Hazelnuts and then take off heat to cool slightly. Measure out three cups oats and pour into a mixing bowl. Measure out vanilla, honey, oil and rhubarb sauce. Mix until combined and then pour into oats. Add toasted nuts and mix until combined. Add more sauce as needed until the mixture is at the desired consistency. Spoon into a baking sheet and bake for about 15-20 minutes, stirring half way through.

Spring

Candied-Ginger Rhubarb Buckle

April 17, 2013June 18, 2022by Rebecca2 Comments

“It takes three things to succeed at that higher level, Rebecca: Intelligence, drive, and passion. There is no doubt you have the first two. But I question your passion. You’ve haven’t shown a true interest in anything…”

For the past three years, I have been almost-daily haunted by this statement from my major professor, stated during my masters defense. After all this time, tossing ideas back and forth, wandering semi-aimlessly in the desert of post-college jobs, I finally can see the pieces coming into focus. I’m slowly coming out of denial and attempting to own up to my dreams, my desires, yes, even my passions.

The clouds and the mist are evaporating slowly. The pieces are finally in focus. This is who I am. There’s a list of things that incite a fury of passionate opinion, cause a burst into dozens of directions, spinning my thoughts so fast the words cannot catch up. Because I’m not one to want to stop once I’ve gotten started, I am longing to shove the remaining clouds out of my way, jam the puzzle pieces together and get to living “passionately.” Finally.

The pieces won’t fit. Fury, disenchantment, resentment. The edges are all mismatched and wrong. I know I’m getting there. But the process is so blasted slow. Come on, I’m thinking. And then I return to the two mantras that continue to keep me going: “Don’t push the river,” a Zen phrase. And a piece of Fr Ignacio’s homily from years ago: “When you ask and there’s no answer, just keep rowing.”

Rowing. And rowing and rowing. Waiting. Listening. Still here, doing the same. Watching the seasons change. Embracing each new one as it comes, trying to not focus on the speed of passing time and the status quo. Meanwhile, I’ll make rhubarb buckle. Candied ginger. Spring. Embracing one of those passions that three years ago, I was too afraid to share. There’s progress, after all.

Candied-Ginger Rhubarb Buckle, adapted from Dishing Up Oregon
Recipe Updated: June 2022

For the Crumb:
1/4 cup gluten-free flour
1/4 sugar
1/4 cup finely chopped candied ginger
2 Tbs. raw coconut oil, melted

For the Buckle:
1 3/4 cups gluten-free flour
2 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 cup (4 0z.) raw coconut oil, softened slightly
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
3/4 cup non-dairy milk mixed with 1 tsp. white vinegar
3/4 lb. rhubarb, cleaning and sliced into 1/2-inch slices

Make the candied ginger crumb. Mix the flour, sugar, and candied-ginger into a small bowl. Mix in the melted coconut oil with spoon until nice and crumbly. Cover and chill in the fridge until ready to use.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Coat a 9-inch round cake dish with a thin layer of oil. Set aside.
Make the buckle. Whisk the flour, ginger, baking soda, baking powder, and salt together in a small bowl. Set aside.
Cream the remaining coconut oil together with the sugar, until light and fluffy. Mix in the eggs.
Add the milk and flour mixture, alternating between the two, until mixture is just combined. Gently fold in the rhubarb.
Spoon batter into the prepared cake pan. Sprinkle the candied-ginger crumb evenly over the batter. Bake until the top is golden and firm, about 45 minutes. Cool approximately 30 minutes prior to serving.