There is more to rhubarb than pie. Much as we love it, there is only so much pie a family can eat — even if you serve it for breakfast, too, like a true Yankee. One of our favorite ways to use rhubarb is to cook it into crushed rhubarb, which can then be pureed. It has many uses.

Crushed Rhubarb

This is a variant of Stewed Rhubarb which has been enjoyed for centuries as an alternative to Apple Sauce. Since Crushed Rhubarb is prepared with a higher ratio of water, the result is more liquid, lending itself to serving as a beverage.

Makes 6 cups
5 cups/1½# sliced rhubarb 4 cups/1 L. Water	Simmer in a sauce pan 20 minutes or until rhubarb softens and starts to break down.
	Stir, crushing rhubarb with back of spoon. Cool.

The Crushed Rhubarb may be canned in a hot water bath.

USES FOR CRUSHED RHUBARB– use the crushed rhubarb and its liquid instead of orange juice in a smoothie, such as one of these:

>>Berry-Yogurt Smoothie >>Blueberry Smoothie  >>Fruit Smoothie 

Rhubarb Puree 

After cooking crushed rhubarb, cool the mixture, then run it through a blender/VitaMix to puree it. Jars of puree may be canned in a hot water bath for 15 minutes or frozen.

Uses For Rhubarb Puree: 1.] Use in Smoothies, as above 2.] Use to supplement Orange Juice why supplement your orange juice?  1] better nutrition : reduced calories, increased fiber, increased Calcium, reduced sugar  2] makes purchased OJ go further, saving money

OJ+Rhubarb Juice yields 8 cups This was a real hit at the Drink Your Rhubarb table at the Rhubarb Festival! You should try it. 2 cups Rhubarb puree + 6 cups commercial orange juice Stir together and store in refrigerator.

comparison	calories	fat	fiber	protein	carbs	Calcium	Sugar
1 c. rhubarb PUREE	21	0.2 g	2 g	1 g	4.6 g	87 mg	1 g
1 c. orange juice	110	0 g	0 g	0 g	18g	20 mg	24 g
1 c. OJ+Rhubarb	87	0 g	0.5g	0.2 g	46g	37 mg	18 g

Rhubarb Juice

After cooking the Crushed Rhubarb, strain the pulp from the liquid. The color of the juice will vary from light pink to greenish-brown depending on the color of the rhubarb stalk. [I usually save the red parts of the stalks for making the Juice] The juice may be canned in a water bath.

Yield from full batch of rhubarb: 3½ cups of juice + 1½ c. rhubarb mush Yield from 2 cups crushed rhubarb: 1½ c juice + ½ cup rhubarb mush

USES FOR RHUBARB JUICE >>>Summer Sipper: Add ½ cup sugar to 4 cups warm, strained juice, cool it, and drink over ice, garnished with a strawberry and a sprig of mint. Very refreshing.

>>>R ‘n’ R Cocktail: ½ cup Rhubarb Juice with sugar + 1 fluid oz rum, served over ice and garnished with a whole strawberry.

USES FOR RHUBARB MUSH >>Rhubarb Pudding >>Rhubarb Creme Brulee >>smoothies 

This is the blog of the Bennington Rhubarb Festival, which was started in 2013 to benefit the library Building Fund. If you would like to help the Building Fund, please contribute any amount to the G.E.P. Dodge Library Building Fund, Bennington, NH, 03442, USA.

The next installment of this blog will be posted on July 4, 2023. If you click the Follow button, all future posts will be sent straight to your inbox every month.