Rhubarb goes with everything!

Well, pretty much everything edible that is. And the odds are if you live in the Midwest especially, you've got this shrub growing out of control in your backyard. When I was a kid I used to dip the stalks in sugar and munch it raw.. (Yeah, SOUR CITY!)In my older, perhaps more refined days I prefer to put it with just about everything in the spring. A friend recently gave me about ten pounds of rhubarb, so I decided to go a little crazy with it. Here's a recipe I conjured up to use them and some pears I had that were getting too ripe.




Rhubarb Pear Muffins

(can be made vegan by substituting soy or almond milk for milk)

-3 ¼ cups all purpose flour ( preferably whole wheat)

- 1 t. baking soda

-1 1/2 T. baking powder

-1 t. ground ginger

-2 t. cinnamon

-1 cup sugar

-1 T. flax seeds

-2 cups milk, soymilk or almond milk

-3/4 cup canola oil

-1/2 cup chopped rhubarb

- 1 medium pear, very ripe, peeled and diced

-1 t. vanilla

Directions: preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 12 muffin tins with muffin papers and spray with non-stick spray. Separate wet and dry ingredients, and whisk. Combine wet to dry and fold in until just incorporated, then fold in rhubarb and diced peeled pears. Using a spoon or ice cream scoop, portion into tins and bake 25-30 minutes depending on your oven, or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Enjoy!