Pickled Rhubarb and Fennel Salad

With a note on the start of spring…

To me, the real start to spring is when I get my hands on those first few stalks of rhubarb. As kids, we would yank the rhubarb from the still-hard soil whenever it had turned from greenish pink to deep red – a raw delicacy for a child who had no palette or desire for anything except the accompanying bowl of sugar.

I still treat the first rhubarb of the season as a kind of ceremony and celebration – the earth is producing again and I am ready to revel in its bounty until the winter comes! But now I treat the rhubarb with a bit more patience. For the past few years, the first stalks have always gone to Claire Saffitz’s rhubarb custard cake and the one or two stalks left over are sliced on a mandolin and pickled for a savoury crunch. When I get my hands on more – ideally through some backyard facebook marketplace deal – I start in on the rhubarb orange jams, pies, and crumbles. Then the panic sets in. I’ve bought too much! I’ll never get through it all! Then all of a sudden it’s gone, the season’s over, and I’m left dreaming and hoping for next year when I’m sure to do the same thing all over again.

So get your hands on some rhubarb and once you do – select the smallest reddest stalk from the bunch and chop off the root end. Lick the exposed end and immerse it in a bowl of white sugar. Take a bite. Repeat until you just can’t take it anymore.

Then make the salad recipe below:)

Freezer Food

Welcome back to ‘Freezer Food,’ a segment where I reminisce over last week’s dinners and shamelessly discuss my deep obsession with the deep freeze.

-Monday was homemade gnocchi in a last ditch effort to salvage some budding potatoes. As discussed in this episode of Food People, freezer spinach is revealed as a friend and a lifesaver and I couldn’t agree more. For the sauce, I grabbed some spinach and peas out of the freezer, blanched and then blended them with pasta water, lemon juice, parm, garlic, anchovies, and EVOO. Fry up your gnocchi and stir in your sauce. Then shave a mountain of parm on top. Voila!

-Whoever doesn’t love slaw just hasn’t met the right non-mayo-y lady yet. I made some bao buns and stuffed them with a garlic and sesame carrot and purple cabbage slaw, chili-oil tinned fish, slices of avocado, and homemade kimchi. I put the leftover buns in the freezer and will steam them back to life next time I have a craving. #selflove

-On Thursday I did a deep dive into Pad Thai – a dish invented in Thailand (obvs) in the 1930’s to galvanize nationalism (kind of an awesome way to do it). You can listen to the Spilled Milk episode on it, or just skip ahead to the good stuff and watch Pailin absolutely slay the Pad Thai game. I don’t buy any other meat from the grocery store BUT the Costco bag of frozen tail-on shrimp makes buying anything else illegal and frankly fiscally irresponsible. So get your hands on a bag. Then make some Pad Thai and thank the Thai government for their gift to humanity.

Now For The Recipe…

Pickled Rhubarb and Fennel Salad + a Date and Anchovy Dressing

I’ve been a teensy bit obsessed by Jess Damuck’s new-ish book, Salad Freak, which rescues the sad salad from it’s high and mighty diet throne and brings it to flavour town – a place where we can look beyond the lettuce and focus on the cheese and nuts and oils which make every salad all oh-so-much better. This recipe is loosely inspired by a fennel salad in Damuck’s book, but brings in a sweet and salty profile from the anchovies and an added crunch from the pickled rhubarb. If you don’t have a mortar and pestle, just chop and mash with a knife – it’ll still taste heavenly.

INGREDIENTS

For the Pickled Rhubarb:

1/2 cup Champagne or Apple Cider Vinegar

1/4 cup Sugar

1 cup ish of Thinly Sliced Rhubarb

Hearty herb of choice (tarragon, rosemary)

For the Salad:

1 Head of Radicchio (pictured above) or Fennel

Your Pickled Rhubarb

1 Orange

Pistachio

Goat Cheese

For the Dressing:

3 Soft Dates, Pitted

3 Anchovies

Good Quality Olive Oil

A Lemon

Salt + Pepper

METHOD

Pickle your rhubarb ahead of time by heating your sugar, vinegar, and herbs over the stovetop until steaming, then pour over your rhubarb. Let it cool down in the fridge – once it’s cool, it’s ready and will keep for a few weeks in the fridge.

Now, make the dressing. In a mortar and pestle, make a paste out of the dates and anchovies with a pinch of salt. Squeeze in the lemon juice and then slowly emulsify the olive oil. Finish with pepper to taste.

Thinly slice the fennel (on a mandolin if you have one) then toss with the orange segments, picked rhubarb, and pistachio. Sprinkle the goat cheese on top.

You can swap the fennel for something bitter like endive or radicchio (pictured above) and use any leftover dressing as a sauce over roasted cauliflower or carrots.

Stay safe and stay sane! Spring is here.

Love,

Charlie