Stewed Rhubarb with Strawberries on Ice Cream

I hit up the markets today looking for some inspiration and some fresh produce, and ended up buying 3 punnets of strawberries (they were on sale) and a bunch of fresh rhubarb. Now, the rhubarb in Australia, in general, is not that great, AND I got to the markets at about 330, so it was fairly picked over, but I'm an optimist and I love rhubarb.

I decided that the only thing to do would be to try and remember my mum's recipe for stewed rhubarb to have with some of the strawberries over ice cream.  All the leftover strawberries, after washing and hulling them, I sprinkled with sugar and stuck in the freezer in ziploc bags.

Don't you just love strawberries?

Stewed Rhubarb
1  bunch rhubarb
3-4 T sugar (up to 3/4 cup)
2 T water
1 T lemon juice
1/2 t cinnamon (or, if available, 1 cinnamon stick)
(1 vanilla pod)

1. Chop off the leaves and the bottom half inch of the rhubarb stems.
2. Rinse rhubarb well and chop into 1-3cm pieces.
3. In medium sauce pan, combine rhubarb, sugar, water, lemon juice and cinnamon.
4. If using vanilla pods: rinse, cut off ends, slice lengthways and scrape out vanilla bean (click here for a youtube video with instructions).
5. Cover and simmer gently over low heat 10-12 minutes, or until desired consistency. Stirring frequently.
6. Remove from heat, and set aside in a bowl to cool (or serve hot if preferred).  Refrigerate leftovers.

The amount of sugar and water to add is all about personal preference. I don't like a lot of sugar in mine, I find it plenty sweet with only a few tablespoons of sugar, but the recipes I looked at had a lot more (usually 1/2 cup, but it varies).  You can also add ginger root to this to give it a different flavour. 

I've always enjoyed this served with fresh strawberries over vanilla ice cream, but for a healthier alternative, try substituting ice cream with plain or greek yogurt.

Yum!