Rhubarb Jam:
Rhubarb was never one of my favorite flavors but it’s popular with most Swedes who love it in pies as well as jams. My mom always insisted rhubarb - like asparagus - is a spring tonic. According to Webmd, she was right. Rhubarb contains antioxidants which have anti-bacterial, anti-inflammatory, and anti-cancer properties.
Question: Is rhubarb a fruit or is it a vegetable? Actually, it’s an early spring vegetable!
So when I found a batch of rhubarb at the farmer’s market, I decided to grab some of this healthy spring tonic to see if mom’s jam recipe tasted better now that I’m an adult. It does! With sweet strawberries and sugar and some Meyer’s lemon, rhubarb is a tasty treat on toast or mixed into yogurt or a topping on granola. It’s even great on ice cream. Try it. It’s an easy recipe. I think you’ll like it.
I’ve adjusted mom’s original recipe which called for six pounds of rhubarb - perfect if you want to can and preserve for a long winter. This is a small batch recipe and will give you about eight small half-cup jars to share with family and friends.
Ingredients:
2 pounds rhubarb
2 cups sugar
2 cups strawberries
1/2 Meyers lemon
Directions:
Rinse rhubarb stalks and cut in small pieces (with skin on). Put in bowl.
Add sugar, cover bowl and let stand overnight.
In the morning, rinse and hull strawberries and cut into small pieces. Add to rhubarb and sugar in a large pot.
Juice lemon and cut rind into small pieces. Add juice, pulp and rind to mixture,
Cook over medium heat and bring to boil. Immediately lower flame to medium low and cook slowly for about two hours until jam thickens. Stir frequently to ensure sugar is not congealing on bottom of pot and watch so that jam does not scorch. Taste and adjust for sweetness. Sweet strawberries will not need additional sugar.
Pour jam into jars and cool before sealing,
Refrigerate jam and it will last for about two weeks, although it will probably disappear before then.
Makes approximately eight 4-ounce jars.