Seasonal veggies: Rhubarb and Watercress

Another installment in an occasional series on local in-season foods. This post is part of Real Food Wednesdays and Make It From Scratch blog carnival.

Rhubarb Forest
Originally uploaded by CaptPiper

Rhubarb

Rhubarb is a native of Asia. The roots are used under careful medical supervision to help with disorders of the colon, spleen and liver. The leaves are toxic because they contain a great deal of oxalic acid, which gives them even more of that “tangy” flavor than the stems. If you are on a low-oxalate diet for kidney stones, please talk to your doctor before eating rhubarb in quantity or regularity. Rhubarb comes in two varieties: red and green. Green rhubarb is easier to grow, sturdier and tastier, but resembles celery so doesn’t sell well in grocery stores. The more medium-sized stalks also cook up better than the larger ones. You’ll want to use your stalks within a day or two for best flavor and nutrition. Cooking rhubarb in an iron or aluminum pot will discolor both the pot and the rhubarb (although you really shouldn’t be cooking with aluminum anyway.)

I was raised on wet, mushy, stringy rhubarb drowning in white sugar. I never really understood why people liked it. But, in my quest for the fresh and local, I stumbled across rhubarb again last year. I was determined to find a way to serve this bright red treat that was edible and even nutritious! We all enjoyed this recipe:

Apple Rhubarb Pandowdy
adapted from Deborah Madison’s Local Flavors

1 recipe yogurt dough (from Nourishing Traditions)
4 large apples, cored
1 pound rhubarb
3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground allspice
1/8 tsp ground cloves
2 tbsp bulghur flour (or whatever flour you use for general cooking)
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 cup maple syrup (use slightly less if you use honey)
1 tbsp pastured butter
raw cream

Preheat the oven to 400°. Lightly coat an 8×8 pyrex baking dish with butter or coconut oil. Quarter the apples and slice crosswise about 1/4 inch thick. Dice the rhubarb into 1/2 inch pieces. If the stalks are very wide, slice them lengthwise in half first. You should have 7-8 cups fruit. Toss the fruit with the spices, flour, and salt, then add the maple syrup and toss thoroughly. Distribute the fruit in the dish and dot with the butter. Roll our the dough about 1/8 inch thick and cut it about 3/4 inch wider than your dish. Lay the dough over the fruit and tuck the edges down into the fruit. Bake until the crust is light gold, 30-35 minutes. Lower the heat to 350°. Remove the pandowdy from the oven and slice through the crust into 2-inch squares in a crisscross fashion. Using a spatula, gently press down on the crust, allowing the juices to flow up and over it. Don’t worry if there isn’t much juice. Return the dish to the oven and continue to bake until the crust is really golden and glazed, another 20-30 minutes. Once or twice, brush the juices over the dough to give it a pretty glaze. Serve warm with cream.

Watercress

Rorippa nasturtium-aquaticum
Originally uploaded by IvanTortuga

Watercress is a delicious green that loves water. If you live near the Great Lakes, you might consider it a weed because it is very happy growing in the alkaline water there. In drier parts of the country, watercress is a rare treat because it is delicate and doesn’t store beyond one or two days after harvest. Hydroponic gardeners usually find their crop’s demand greatly exceeds its supply, and for good reason. This mildly bitter leaf is a nutritional gift. It is a gentle diuretic, and encourages the bladder and kidneys to work at top efficiency. It has a wide vitamin and mineral complement, including some constituents (like vanadium) that are difficult to find in other food sources. Watercress is a good nutritional remedy for indigestion and can stop gas buildup in the stomach and intestines before it starts. Hm, watercress soup with those bean burritos? Leaves are best consumed within a day of harvest and before the plant begins to flower.

In Great Britain, you’ll find watercress finger sandwiches at afternoon tea. We aren’t fond of white bread though, so we have ours on leftover pancakes that have been dried in a low oven for several hours until crispy. We spread pastured butter on the pancake and layer on the leaves and stems of freshly washed watercress. The sweet butter makes a great foil for the tangy watercress.