Types of rhubarb, which part of the plant is eaten. The composition and calorie content of the food culture, features and restrictions to the introduction into the diet. Recipes for dishes with giant grass and interesting facts about it. The taste of rhubarb stalks is provided by the acids included in its composition: ascorbic, oxalic, malic. Therefore, one should not be surprised at the pronounced acidity when consumed.
Useful properties of rhubarb for the human body
Eating the stalks of a giant grass, little is thought about the beneficial properties. In home cooking, it is actively used as a cheap raw material for sweet preparations - preserves and jams. In this case, the benefits of rhubarb when consumed in food are confirmed by medical research.
Its use:
- Cleans blood vessels from cholesterol deposits.
- Normalizes blood pressure, stabilizes the cardiovascular system.
- It has a pronounced laxative effect due to the high content of dietary fiber.
- Prevents the development of intestinal cancer - especially of its lower parts, rectum.
- Stimulates the function of the central nervous system, increases thinking ability, prevents the development of Alzheimer's disease.
- Thins the blood by stimulating the production of prothrombin.
- Replenishes the reserve of calcium, which strengthens the structure of the bone tissue.
- Improves visual function. This effect is possessed by red varieties of rhubarb, since they contain a high amount of vitamin A, which has a beneficial effect on the state of the optic nerve.
- It accelerates metabolism, normalizes metabolic processes, so it is recommended to introduce it into the diet of obese people.
- Strengthens the immune system due to the high content of vitamin C.
- Slows down age-related changes, stimulates the regeneration of the skin.
The use of rhubarb has a pronounced beneficial effect on women of all ages and in special conditions. Young people relieve dysmenorrhea - severe menstrual pain. During the transition to menopause, it softens the manifestation of unpleasant symptoms: hot flashes, insomnia, constant mood swings, hyperhidrosis. During pregnancy and lactation, rhubarb is an almost ideal supplier of folic acid: daily consumption of 5-8 cm of petiole in food satisfies the daily need for this useful substance.
Harm and contraindications to the use of rhubarb
Rhubarb is one of those plants that should be consumed in dosage, having previously familiarized yourself with the basic properties. For example, its young leaves have a healing effect on the body, and they can be used for food, and in the old ones - toxic compounds, and they become poisonous.
You should not include in the diet dishes from the plant for such diseases:
- Urolithiasis and gallstone disease, arthritis and gout - a complex of organic acids in the composition of the plant stimulates the deposition and accumulation of urates.
- Diseases of the hematopoietic system with the main symptom - a decrease in blood clotting. For the same reason, rhubarb should not be used for hemorrhoids or peptic ulcer disease.
- Gastritis and other diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, developing against a background of increased acidity.
- Diabetes mellitus - the use of this plant stimulates the secretory functions of the pancreas, increases the production of insulin.
A contraindication to the use of rhubarb is an increase in the temperature indicator, regardless of what caused it. The plant contains a high amount of oxalic acid, which in itself stimulates a rise in temperature. In this state, the quality of the blood changes. Eating rhubarb can cause internal bleeding.
Moderate consumption of the food culture is relatively safe - with the above diseases, you can try the rhubarb dish once. Even if in this case the state of the body does not worsen, it cannot be included in the daily menu.
Rhubarb recipes
In home cooking, rhubarb is commonly used for desserts and sugary drinks, but it can be used in sauces, soups, and hot dishes. Loose stalks of rhubarb need to boil for no more than a minute, fresh, freshly plucked elastic petioles must be boiled for at least 3 minutes.
Rhubarb recipes:
- Cold soup … It takes at least 3.5 hours to prepare the dish. Rhubarb stalks (300 g) are cut into 3-4 cm pieces and boiled in salted water. The broth is set aside to cool, and when it has cooled sufficiently, it is put into the refrigerator. If it is very sour, add sugar. Pike perch fillet (500 g) is divided into portions and boiled until tender. Cucumbers (2 pieces) are cut, potatoes and eggs (2 pieces each) are boiled in their skins. All prepared ingredients are crushed - eggs, potatoes, cucumbers, herbs - dill, parsley, green onions are added. Lay out on plates, put fish in each of them, pour with cooled rhubarb broth.
- Meat with rhubarb sauce … It is advisable to cook pork, but this sauce also goes well with beef and poultry. Pour half a glass of red dry wine into a saucepan, season with ginger and add mustard powder - 1 tablespoon of spices each. Simmer for 1-3 minutes. Meat (500 g) is cut into portions, marinated for 30 minutes, then baked in the oven in a sleeve or in the microwave. Rhubarb stalks (200 g) are halved, one part is cut into small pieces of 0.5 cm, and the second is larger. Coarse slices are poured with water (2/3 cup), covered with sugar (100 g) and placed in the microwave for 6 minutes. When the mass becomes homogeneous, it is rubbed through a sieve. Small pieces of the plant are added to rhubarb puree and put back in the microwave for 3 minutes. Remove from the microwave and add finely chopped parsley. Pork is laid out on a dish, poured with sauce. It is better to use rice as a side dish.
- Rhubarb pie … The dough is kneaded quickly, so you should turn on the oven from the very beginning, so that it has time to warm up to 180 degrees. A baking sheet with high sides is covered with parchment and greased with oil. Combine a glass of flour with half a glass of sugar, add half a pack of butter and knead a not very tough dough, separate it a little for decoration. The dough is spread on a baking sheet and baked for 15 minutes, you do not need to bring it to full readiness. While the base of the pie is baking, prepare the filling - mix 2 chopped boiled eggs, a glass of sugar, 2 cups chopped rhubarb stalks, 4 tablespoons of flour and a little salt. The filling is carefully laid out on the base, strips are formed, which decorate the top of the pie, and baked until fully cooked - 40-45 minutes. Sprinkle with icing sugar before serving.
- Salad … Ingredients for vegetable salad: rhubarb - 300 g, several cauliflower inflorescences, half a bunch of parsley, 3 boiled eggs, the juice of half a small lemon, a third of a glass of unsweetened yogurt, olive oil, mayonnaise - 1, 5 tablespoons each, curry powder - half a teaspoon spoons, a little black pepper. Cauliflower is boiled for no more than 1 minute, cut, rhubarb is cut into small pieces and used raw. All other ingredients are also crushed. The dressing is prepared separately by combining yogurt, olive oil, mayonnaise, salt, pepper, curry powder. Pour vegetables with dressing and put in the refrigerator for 15 minutes, brew.
- American compote … Americans believe that rhubarb tastes perfect with strawberries, and they often combine the two. Peel off the orange and squeeze the juice. Water is poured into a saucepan - 1 liter, 2 tablespoons of honey, orange juice, zest, sugar to taste are added, boiled for 5-7 minutes. Tough fibers are removed from the stalks of rhubarb, cut into small pieces, dipped in a boiling liquid, brought to a boil and removed from heat. When it has completely cooled down, put the container on low heat again, add strawberries. If the berries are frozen, you do not need to defrost them. As soon as the liquid boils, the pan is again removed from the heat and cooled, first at room temperature, and then in the refrigerator. Place two fresh chopped strawberries in each cup before serving. It goes well with ice cream. In this case, you need to cook the compote thicker so that it resembles syrup in consistency.
- Jam … Rhubarb in jam goes well with regular red rowan. It is advisable to pick berries away from country roads. Rhubarb stalks are cut into pieces, mixed with mountain ash - the proportion of ingredients is 1/1. Syrup is made from sugar - it should be twice as much by weight as a mixture of ingredients for jam, filled with water. The proportions of sugar and water are 1 kg / 1 glass. Rhubarb with mountain ash is poured with syrup, boiled for 1-1, 2 hours, removing the foam. Then everything is crushed with a blender to a uniform consistency, brought to a boil, laid out in sterilized jars and the lids are rolled up. The jam will turn out to be liquid, it will thicken already in jars, after 2 months of storage.
The amount of oxalic acid in the petioles depends on the condition of the plant. The most sour taste in oppressed, undersized thickets. Petioles from powerful bushes are sweeter, more gentle on the mucous membrane of the digestive tract and are more suitable for making desserts. In healthy bushes, you can use young leaves for food - add them to salads.
Interesting facts about rhubarb
There is still debate as to how to treat rhubarb - as a product of traditional Slavic cuisine or as an extravagant dish?
In the years of famine, wild rhubarb was used for food, but as a garden plant it began to be planted only in the 17th century, and then the tsarist monopoly was introduced on its sale. Food varieties with large petioles were imported from Europe, in particular from Venice and France.
For the first time, they tried to plant a plant in Europe during the time of Marco Polo, who brought seeds from China. But under local conditions, it was not possible to grow either an agricultural or a medicinal variety. The British were the first to harvest food crops only in the 16th century - rhubarb with sugar became a favorite delicacy of the nobility.
In Russia, the first attempts to grow rhubarb were unsuccessful: the peasants were poisoned with leaves and refused to plant a garden crop on their plots.
Now breeders have bred only 20 varieties of food crops and 5 more medicinal ones.
Fresh rhubarb is difficult to keep. Petioles wrapped in plastic wrap in the refrigerator lose their beneficial properties after 3 days.
The current rise in popularity of rhubarb is due to the fashionable Hollywood diet based on this product. Eating dishes with this ingredient 2 times a day and actively playing sports, you can lose weight without harming your own health by 4-5 kg per month.
What to cook from rhubarb - watch the video:
If you want to follow the example of famous American actors, you should introduce rhubarb stalks into your regular diet. For this alone, it is worth planting a plant in your garden or finding a reliable supplier.
