Sweet Strawberry Rhubarb Salad

I get so excited for farmer’s market season every spring. An afternoon at the market makes what can sometimes be a seemingly mundane task like grocery shopping into an enjoyable and inspiring outing.

           

Today was the first week of our local farmer’s market and the colours of the vender tables were particularly vibrant, filled with strawberries, spinach, cucumber and an abundance of rhubarb. 

After walking past a series of tables that were featuring rhubarb, its vibrant red stalks and lush leaves catching my eye at every turn, I decided to stop and ask one of the vendors what was the best way to incorporate this vegetable into everyday meals. Wasting no time, he quickly began to show me how to clean the stalks and explained that it would taste best if used to make a simple syrup. His kind and helpful tips are what became the inspiration for the dressing and salad featured below.

Sweet Strawberry Rhubarb Salad Ingredients

Salad

2 Cups Fresh Spinach (tear into bite-size bits)

1 Cucumber (sliced)

2 Strawberries (sliced)

2 Tablespoons granola

Strawberry Rhubarb Syrup

1/3 Cup Rhubarb (cleaned and cut into small slices)

1/4 Cup of Strawberries (sliced)

1/4 Cup of Sugar

1/4 Cup Water

Dressing

2 Tablespoons of the Strawberry Rhubarb Syrup

1 Teaspoon of Dyonnaise Mustard Blend

1 Teaspoon of Lemon Juice

1/8 of a teaspoon of salt and pepper

Directions Strawberry Rhubarb Syrup

1.     In a small saucepan, combine rhubarb, strawberries, water and sugar.

2.     Bring to a boil at medium-high heat for 7 min or until your rhubarb is very soft.

3.     Remove from heat and let stand for 10 min.

4.     Set aside the larger pieces of fruit

5.     This makes more syrup than you will need for your dressing, so I like to keep what's left for Sunday morning pancakes!

Directions for Dressing

          Combine 2 tbs of the syrup, dyonnaise, lemon juice, salt and pepper; whisk until blended.

Directions for Salad

Combine spinach, cucumber and strawberries; pour dressing and sprinkle with granola.  Lightly toss. Top with the bits of strawberry and rhubarb leftover from your syrup.

Enjoy!