[Peas let my pumpkins grow]

I m cooking the first rhubarb from my plot as a surprise for mum when she gets home from work.

She s in a healthy eating/slimming club so to avoid adding sugar she cooks it in diet fizzy orange .....

Has anybody heard of this before? And how should I tell when it is cooked, I've never cooked or really eaten rhubarb - i suppose its meant to go soft and a bit mushy?

Because its forced shouldn't it be sweet any way? Oh dear why do I start these things!?!?

[Kleftiwallah]

If the crown has been forced, take a few stalks and leave it for a year to recover.  Forcing takes a load out of a rhubarb crown.  Note - don't force the same crown each year or it will decline in vigour fast.

Cheers,   Tony.

[New shoot]

Rhubarb is forced to get an early crop and should be more delicate and a little sweeter than outdoor grown stuff, but it won't be sweet as such.

Never heard of cooking it in diet fizzy orange, but I do tend to put mine in the oven with a bit of orange juice and sugar in a covered baking dish, rather than simmer it.  It gets a lot less mushy that way, but should be soft and tender, which is how you know it is cooked 

I have a herb called sweet cicely in my garden and the leaves of that added to tart fruit, really do reduce the amount of sugar you need to use.  Worth searching out if you want to keep your sugar intake down 

[Peas let my pumpkins grow]

Thanks new shoot, I'm about to try your method out now. All ive created is a soupy mess that tastes like warm flat fanta  :blink: I'm going to try powdered sweetener instead of sugar and hope that's not too many points (or sins or calories whatever they are) that way. Will keep an eye out for sweet cicely - sounds like a more rational answer to the sugar dilemma  thanks again 

[compostqueen]

I put a bit of honey and dry ginger on my forced rhubarb which I cook in the microwave in a covered dish.  I only cook it for a minute at a time on full power and keep checking it. You want it just soft

It's delicious stuff!  A real gourmet pud but so easy.  I like it with a little bit of low fat creme fraiche.  Even better with broken meringue too

[gypsy]

I have used powdered sweetener, stirred in when the rhubarb is cooked and it is fine. Rhubarb  is very low calorie and the sweetener is almost no cals so it is a very slimming friendly dessert. I have tried using diet lemonade to sweeten it and did not like it. Hope your mum enjoyed it. CC x

[Peas let my pumpkins grow]

Thanks compost queen, hadnt even considered the microwave and we had some leftover meringues so crushed them over the top. Cant say im a huge fan of Rhubarb but my mum liked it well enough.

I put the sweetener in before cooking but will try it afterwards next time as you suggested gypsy. I think the diet fizzy drinks must seem like a good idea in theory...but we ll stick to sweetener in my house i think 

[gypsy]

I tried a new way with rhubarb, not as low cal as some but it was yummy. Cut rhubarb into 3inch lengths, put in slow cooker with a spoonful of honey and a bit of powdered ginger, leave on high for about an hour.

[Silkychicks]

I use chalk for rhubarb (and spinach).
This is to compensate the oxalic acid. I don't know how but it also does someting to the sourness of rhubarb so you need much less sweetning.

A non-calory natural sweetner is stevia and this has no infuence on your blood glucose.

In Holland you buy chalk for consumption at an oldfashioned drugstore or at a better farmacy.

Ginger and rhubarb are great together!! 

[sontab]

I guess this was tried with sugar free Fanta orange.  For a low calorie pud trying using it to soak grapes in overnight in the fridge.  Next day add different fruits to make fruit salad.  The Fanta sweetens the whole thing up and tastes slightly alcoholic.

 

[lynrotherham]

Rhubarb crumble.

To make a slimming (or less fattening) crumble substitute some of the sugar in the crumble mix with dessicated coconut it makes a lighter crumble and is delicious. I also add tinned apricots to the rhubarb

[hightide]

Slimming rhubarb? yeugh! prune faces all round.
 

Rhubarb needs sugar for balance - ying and yang people, you'll be suggesting James Martin uses less butter next.

[New shoot]

Just updating this old thread as my sweet cicely plant is covered in seeds and I thought people might be interested in some    Will be another few weeks before they ripen as at the green stage now.

Latin name Myrrhis odorata if you want to look it up and my girls book of herbs says the seed needs several months of cold winter temperatures to germinate.  Self seeds in my garden, so can't be that hard 

Anyway pm me and we can sort out you sending an SAE or a swapsie