Strawberries and Rhubarb

My strawberry season started off at Strawberry Harvest Festival hosted by POP (Philadelphia Orchard Project) whose mission is to plant orchards in the city of Philadelphia that grow healthy food, green spaces and community food security. The celebratory event was held on the grounds of the Woodford Mansion in Fairmount Park where there is the Strawberry Mansion Children’s Orchard. In addition to a bbq and lots of fresh strawberries, they served fresh strawberry juice and strawberry crumble. Part of the event included a volunteer effort to plant 36 fruit trees in the field in front of the mansion. Much of what we planted was “pawpaw” trees. I’d never heard of that fruit before moving back to the area. Apparently it is native to the area and can be used in any recipe that calls for a bananas. The flesh is yellow and sweet and a bit challenging to eat as there are so many large black seeds. Once they come into season this year, I’ll have to see what inspiration I can cook up with the fruit.

Part of the day included a volunteer effort to plant 36 fruit trees in the field in front of the mansion. Much of what we planted was “pawpaw” trees. I’d never heard of that fruit before moving back to the area. Apparently it is native to the area and can be used in any recipe that calls for a bananas. The flesh is yellow and sweet and a bit challenging to eat as there are so many large black seeds. Once they come into season this year, I’ll have to see what inspiration I can cook up with the fruit.

The farmer’s markets are up in full swing, including our single farmer stand in Manayunk. When it first kicked in last month there was an abundance of rhubarb and strawberries. Beyond strawberry rhubarb pie, I’ve not had much idea of what do with rhubarb. I remembered that I had saved an article from many years back on savory ways to serve rhubarb which I dug up for inspiration. One of the recipes, simple lemony rhubarb sauce, is a dish that was recommended with white fish and was definitely simple to make. All it involved was dicing up a pound of rhubarb and cooking it down over the stove with 1/3 a cup of sugar into a sauce consistency which takes about 15 minutes. At the end you add juice from half a lemon. Rhubarb is known to be tangy, but it didn’t require much sugar to make it palatable, particularly for a savory dish.

I served the sauce with some tilapia that I baked in foil with some olive oil, salt, parsley, pepper, sliced onion and diced asparagus, also fresh from the farmer’s market. The meal also included red quinoa and a salad with sliced strawberries and toasted pecans. All in all a light, fresh meal to initiate the beginning of the abundant summer growing season.

A friend who suggested serving the sauce over yogurt mentioned that her father would make rhubarb daquiris. As I enjoy experimenting with cocktails, I mixed up a strawberry rhubarb daquiri that was made with rum and included fresh mint. The rhubarb added a refreshing acidity similar to using fresh squeezed lime that I so enjoy in my drinks.

Some great alternatives to the traditional strawberry rhubarb pie!