It’s definitely the growing season in the Midwest, including fresh rhubarb — so tart, so delicious, so versatile!  And although I am actually making another rhubarb-strawberry tart for my birthday dinner tonight, slicing rhubarb stalks reminded me of this wonderfully unique pickled rhubarb recipe:  it’s simple, vegan, gluten-free (obviously), and astonishing.

Pickled Rhubarb Salad

Ingredients:

2 rhubarb stalks, sliced on a diagonal
1 cup red wine vinegar
½ cup sugar
1½ tsp kosher salt, plus more if needed
1 fennel bulb, halved and cored, very thinly sliced
3 celery stalks, thinly sliced on a diagonal, plus celery leaves for serving
Olive oil (for drizzling)
Freshly ground black pepper

Special Equipment:  A heatproof one-pint jar

Method:

1.   Pack the rhubarb into the jar. Bring the vinegar, sugar, 1½ tsp kosher salt, and ¾ cup water to a boil in a small saucepan, stirring to dissolve the sugar and salt. Pour into the jar; cover and chill for at least one hour.

2.    Toss the fennel, celery, one cup drained pickled rhubarb, and 2 Tbsp pickling liquid in a large bowl to combine; season with salt to taste – smoked salt could be a good choice here.

3.   Arrange the salad on a platter; drizzle with olive oil and grind some pepper over the top. Garnish with celery leaves and remaining drained pickled rhubarb.

Of course, you can simply use the pickled rhubarb with a cold entree, as with any relish or chutney;  the additional of fennel and celery just makes it that bit more sophisticated.

Here is the .pdf, if you wish to print it out:  Rhubarb Pickle.