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I picked up a lovely, two-pound bunch of rhubarb on the Blacksburg Farmer's Market yesterday with specific plans to finally try out a recipe I've had laying on my desk for a couple of weeks.

I've written a little bit about rhubarb before, but here's a refresher: According to "Food Lover's Companion," rhubarb is a member of the buckwheat family. It grows in bunches and looks a bit like red celery with big leaves on the ends. The leaves are NOT edible. It is highly perishable, so use it within 3 days of buying it.

This recipe came from Simply Recipes, one of my very favorite recipe blogs. It's for rhubarb crumble, which is sort of like an apple brown betty made with rhubarb instead of apples. If you don't like straight rhubarb, I'm sure you could probably add some strawberries to this recipe so long as they are not too juicy. Cut fresh ones a day in advance and leave them in the fridge to leach out some of the juices.

As for me, I'll go straight rhubarb.

Rhubarb Crumble
Serves 8

Filling:
2 lbs. rhubarb, cut into 1-inch pieces (about 6 cups)
1 1/4 cups white sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. ground cardamom

Crumble topping:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup butter (1 stick), cut into cubes

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a medium bowl, mix together the rhubarb, white sugar, 1/4 cup of flour, the vanilla extract and the ground cardamom. Spoon into a 9-by-13-inch baking dish.

2. In a food processor, pulse together 1 cup of flour, salt and brown sugar. Add the butter and pulse until the pieces are pea-sized (alternatively, mix the dry ingredients together and cut the butter in with two knives or a pastry cutter). Spread topping mixture over rhubarb mixture.

3. Place in oven and cook for 35 to 40 minutes, until the filling is bubbly and the topping is lightly browned. let cool for at least a half hour before serving. Serve with vanilla ice cream or whipped topping.

Source: Simply Recipes