Strawberry Rhubarb Salsa

Nothing says "spring" like strawberries and rhubarb.  They pop up together in pies, crumbles, compotes and the like.  We decided to see how they would fare in the savory world and were quite pleasantly surprised!  This salsa has a great balance of sweet, tart, bite and tang.

This recipe came into being when we were looking for something to make with the kids at the opening day of Green City Market's outdoor market just last week.  We needed a short hands-on project (so, minimal cook) that used market ingredients, and had with a Mexican twist (it happened to be Cinco de Mayo).  I remembered coming across rhubarb salsas while researching our summer camp recipes, so I thought that was a good place to start.  I found a fair number of recipes, but many called for markedly un-seasonal ingredients, like corn and bell peppers.  I found one using strawberries, but it called for soaking the rhubarb overnight in some sort of simple syrup to cut the tartness.  I didn't like that idea for many reasons, including the fact that I just wouldn't have time for an overnight soak between buying the rhubarb at the market and starting the demo 30 minutes later.  I tried out a quick blanch, which was enough, along with the sweetness of the berries, to cut the rhubarb bite.

Photo by Daniel Stranahan

Strawberry Rhubarb Salsa

Ingredients
2 stalks rhubarb (a little less than 1/2 lb), trimmed and cut into 3 inch pieces

10 strawberries (1/2 lb), hulled and chopped into 1/4 inch pieces

1/2 small red onion, finely chopped (1/4 cup)

3 cloves garlic, minced (1 tablespoon)

Juice from one lime (1 tablespoon)

1/4 tsp salt

3 or 4 sprigs fresh cilantro

Directions

Bring a small pot of water to boil.  Add rhubarb and boil for 1 minute (be careful not to boil any longer or it will get mushy.  Transfer to a plate to cool.  Once cool enough to handle, chop rhubarb into 1/4 inch pieces.

In a large bowl, combine chopped rhubarb, strawberries, onions and garlic.  Add lime juice and salt and toss gently to combine.  Remove cilantro leaves from stems, tear leaves into small pieces and add to bowl.  Season to taste with additional salt if needed.  Serve with tortilla chips and enjoy!

What kids can do (with appropriate tools & supervision, of course!)
*Chop strawberries (first chopping off green stem, then slicing, then cutting into chunks - we have wavy choppers for kids to use, they work great without risking life and limb)
*Finely chop onions (it is easiest if you slice the onion first for them)
*Mince garlic (first chopping garlic cloves into smaller pieces, then going over it repeatedly with the chopping with short and swift chopping motions)
*Juice lime (kids might need a little help getting all the juices out)
*Measure out salt
*Remove cilantro leaves and tear
*Stir and taste