On their own, the super foods are fighting a losing battle against refined crappy crap. But when they join forces their powers combined make an unstoppable health benefit for fighting the evil toxins in our intoxicated bodies. Combine the colourful forces of these classic and trendy superfoods to make a bright, light salad that is full of goodness and great taste. It’s loaded up to make a complete and balanced meal.

Mega morphing salad 

Black

1 bunch of black kale, leaves finely shredded 

Red

1 cup water

1/2 cup red quinoa ( you can also use red or regular)

pinch of salt

Pink

1 pink grapefruit

300g Cunningham smoked trout

Yellow 

Juice of 1 lemon

¼ cup Highwood Crossing organic canola oil

½ cup Tbsp olive oil

1 Tbsp honey

1 Tbsp yellow mustard

1 Tbsp fresh grated ginger

salt to taste

Green

3 cups (approximately) of mixed greens 

To make the vinaigrette. Put all the ingredients into a large glass jar with a lid. Close the lid up tight and give everything a really good shake. Set vinaigrette aside to get happy for a little while.

To cook the Quinoa. Bring water to a boil. Stir in the quinoa and reduce heat to low. Cover and cook for 15 minutes. Remove lid and cook until the water evaporates. Pour the cooked quinoa out of the pot onto a large plate or baking dish and spread it out while fluffing it with a fork. Let the quinoa dry out a bit and cool to room temperature while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.

Cut off the top and bottom of the grapefruit. Place a flat side down and use a knife to cut away the peel. Once all the pink skin and white pith are cut away, you can start to remove the pieces of grapefruit supreme by cutting wedges out as close to the thin connected membrane as you can manage. The technique is called ‘supreme’. For detailed instructions on how to ‘citrus supreme’ check out swervecalgary.com and search “Citrus Supreme” for a how-to video.

To shred the black kale, remove the tough stem by cutting down each side. Save the stems for a stir-fry. Collect all the leaves into a neat and tidy pile and hyper-thinly slice until you’ve got a springy pile ready to get dressed.

Get dressed. Dress each item individually to ensure everything is distributed evenly.

Start with the mixed greens and kale together. Dressing sparingly and to your personal taste with the vinaigrette and use your clean hands to toss the leaves. Divide into two bowls.

Now toss the grapefruit supremes in vinaigrette until nicely coated. Arrange the grapefruits into and around the nest of greens.

Now dress the quinoa with vinaigrette. Be sure it doesn’t end up getting too sloppy. Scatter the quinoa on and around the mixed greens. Carefully arrange pieces of smoked trout on the salad.

Any left over vinaigrette can be saved for future salads.

Serve forth and prosper.

It sure gets cold in the winter. But that shouldn’t stop you from going on a romantic picnic. Instead of cold potato salad, pack this German-style potato salad with yummy bacon, potatoes, celeriac, and dill pickles served warm to keep you snug and satisfied. Cuddle on—or under—a warm fuzzy blanket with a snuggle buddy . . . and don’t be surprised if your next picnic is a family picnic.1 large celeriac

4 large waxy potatoes

3 large dill pickles

1 bunch fresh dill, chopped

1 lemon

1 shallot

1 clove garlic

6 slices thick-cut bacon

1 Tbsp vegetable oil

2 Tbsp butter

salt and pepper

2 Tbsp sour cream

1 Tbsp grainy mustard

Peel the celeriac by cutting off the top and bottom. Lay it on a flat side, and use your big knife to trim the gnarly skin off the sides. Peel your potatoes. Cut the potatoes and celeriac into approximately 1 1/2- to 2- inch cubes. Place them in a large pot and fill it up with cold water. (Do not salt the water.)

Get the pot on high heat, and while it comes to a boil prep the rest of the salad. The celeriac will float to the top, but that’s cool.

Cut the pickles into large rounds the size of the potato chunks. Chop the dill. Zest and juice the lemon into the same bowl. Mince the shallots and garlic.

When the water just starts to boil, you can start the bacon. Lay out your 6 slices of bacon in a very large cold pan and place the pan onto medium heat. Drizzle in the oil and let the fat render out of the bacon.

Back to the potatoes. Check for doneness by taking out a big piece of potato from the bottom of the pot and cutting it or biting into it. You’ll know it needs more cooking if it’s raw and crunchy. Don’t worry about checking the celeriac, as celeriac a little undercooked is fine, and you can’t really overcook it either.

When the potatoes and celeriac are ready, drain them into a colander and let them sit for 10 minutes until they have released a lot of their excess moisture.

When the bacon is crispy, transfer to a paper towel–lined plate.

In the bacon fat add the shallots, garlic, and butter. When the shallots are soft, add the potatoes and celeriac. Toss to coat, and then sprinkle in the lemon juice and zest. Salt and pepper generously. Transfer to a bowl and gently mix in the pickles, dill, sour cream, and mustard. Crumble the bacon and sprinkle it on top.

Serves yourself and 7 hungry friends.

Most Halloween monsters can’t stand candy! Vampires lust for blood. Zombies chomp at the brain. Ghouls fiendishly feast on fresh and funky corpses. The bright red paprika and meaty chunks in a Hungarian Ghoulash will satisfy the most distinguished demon panging for your vital vittles. Bubble and brew a large cauldronful for your next posthumous potluck.

Hungry Ghoul Hungarian Ghoulash

SERVES 6 GHOULS 

6 slices of bacon, chunks

3 onions, diced

1 potato, grated

1 glass of red or white wine

1L Tomato purée

600g Beef or pork, cubed

1 tsp Caraway seeds

2 Tbsp Hungarian (sweet) paprika

1 Tbsp Spanish (smoked)  paprika

2 cloves of garlic, grated

¼ cup curly parsley, finely chopped

salt and pepper to taste

Sour cream, optional

INGREDIENTS

Get a large pot (preferably one that has a lid) on the stove over medium heat.

Pile in your bacon and cook it until it gets nice and crispy. Remove crispy bacon with a slotted spoon and put it on a papertowel lined plate. Make sure you leave as much fat in the pan as possible. Hide the bacon from wandering ghouls.

Chuck in the diced onion and cook until they are lovely and caramelized.

Add the grated potato and stir it all about.

Deglaze the pan with wine and use a good wooden spoon to scrape up all the crusty bits stuck to the pan.

Add the tomato purée, caraway seeds and garlic. Bring the pot to a bubble over high heat and then reduce the heat to very low. Pile in the meat and stir it all about.

It’s kind of unusual to add the meat in without browning it, but the results are a nice juicy tender meat.

Cover the pot and cook over low heat for 2 hours, stirring occasionally.

When it’s done and the meat is nice and tender and the paprika and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Let the stew rest off the heat for 30 minutes before you scoop out a sloppy bowlful of gruesome slop with some creamy sour cream and a scattering of parsley and crispy bacon.

Like most stews, this ghoulash improves overnight.

Open your mind to a meal where Brussel Sprouts are not just a holiday obligation. Break through the tightly packed layers of negative feelings wrapped around a deep-rooted core of sulfurous mental anguish. Cut to the core of the problem and breakdown your sprout into leaves for faster cooking, which results in bright green colour and no sulfurous compound flavour development. It will blow your mind wide open to a whole new level of Brussel Sprout consciousness.

PS… maybe you saw this Brussels Sprout video on Breakfast TV on Thanksgiving.

Green ‘Curry’ Brussels sprouts

Serves 4 for dinner

10 brussel sprouts

600g of ground pork or turkey

1/2 can of canned coconut milk

2 big scoops of green curry paste*, or more to taste

3 green onions sliced

1 cup of short grain or Sushi rice

2 ½ cups water

pinch of salt 

* Curry Paste

2 Jalapeno peppers or 1 habanero (very spicy), stem and seeds removed

1 big chunk of ginger

1 bunch of mint, leaves only

1 bunch of cilantro, leaves and soft stems

1 bunch of basil, leaves and soft stems

½ cup vegetable oil

½ cup rice wine vinegar

juice & zest of 2 limes

pinch of salt

Get the rice on. Pour the water into a small pot, add rice and salt and place over high heat, as soon as it comes to a bubble, reduce the heat to low and place a lid on top, cook for 15 minutes remove from the heat and let the rice rest for 10 minutes before serving.

This is not a traditional green curry recipe, but it’s super delicious and it will last in the fridge for 1 week. This makes a big batch, so you can use the leftovers to scoop into soup, mix into scrambled eggs or mixed with mayo and spread on a sandwich.

To make the curry you’ll probably want to use a food processor, if you use a blender you may have to add more oil to get the flow going. In the food processor start by blitzing together the zest & juice of the lime with the ginger, jalapeno, oil and vinegar. Blend until the ginger is nicely pureed. Add the mint, basil and cilantro. Blitz the mix, scraping down the sides as needed until the mixture is consistent but not totally smooth.

Get the rice on. Pour the water into a small pot, add rice and salt and place over high heat, as soon as it comes to a bubble, reduce the heat to low and place a lid on top, cook for 15 minutes remove from the heat and let the rice rest for 10 minutes before serving.

Use a pairing knife to prep your Brussels sprouts. Point the tip of your knife at an angle into the base of the sprout to cut out the cone shaped core. Check out the photo on the side. Once you’ve got the solid core removed you can pull the sprout apart and into individual leaves. Pile those leaves into a bowl and discard the cores. It takes a couple tries to get the whole core so you can pull it all apart, but finding spiritual enlightenment takes practice.

Get a very large pan or pot on medium high heat and leave it for 5 minutes to warm up.

When the pan is hot add the oil and immediately start putting in little quarter sized bits of ground meat. Space them out so they get a chance to brown, When the pork or turkey is brown on one side, stir it all up and add the Brussel Sprouts. Cook for 3-4 minutes, tossing everything occasionally. Aren’t they turning a lovely green colour?

Add the coconut milk and cook for 1 minute. Remove from the heat and add the curry, stir to distribute the curry. Taste it. Does it need salt or more curry paste? Add some until it tastes perfect.

Serve a steamy scoop of rice in a bowl with a big scoop of saucy sprouts on top. Make sure you get enough of the creamy tangy sauce.

The Tooth Fairy suggests you exercise caution during cherry season. She advises you to slow down when approaching a bowl of fresh juicy pit-filled cherries. Please enjoy this classic eggy French Clafouti dessert responsibly and make sure everyone knows you left the pits in the cherries or the TF will be left to pick up the pieces.

Whole Cherry Clafouti

1 1/4 cup flour

1/2 cup sugar, divided

1 cup cream

3 eggs

1 tbsp vanilla or almond extract

pinch of salt

2 Tbsp room temperature butter

2 pounds of fresh dark cherries, stems removed

In a medium bowl whisk together the sugar, cream, eggs, vanilla extract and salt. Add the flour, trying to whisk out the lumps but don’t worry about getting all the little lumps. They’ll soften up while the batter rests.

Cover the batter and leave it out at room temperature for 1 hour. Don’t freak out, just cause there’s an egg at room temp isn’t the end of the world. It’s going to get cooked and it’s necessary for a good batter to have a resting time so it can get cohesive.

Remove the stems from all the cherries but don’t take out the pits. It’s imperative that you leave the pits in so they can release the almondy and clove-like flavour compounds. It also helps to get your eaters to slow down when they know there are pits in this dessert.

Preheat the oven to 375˚F.

Get your baking pan very buttered up. The more butter the better. Your baking dish can be metal or ceramic. The size and shape can range from a 10-12 inch round cake pan to an 8-12 inch pie or tart pan. The important  thing is that all the cherries are in a single layer and there is enough wiggle room for just a little bit of batter to weave around them. Also make aure there a bit of room around the edges. If you use a smaller pan, just put fewer cherries in. You can eat them immediately as a consolation prize.

Pour in the batter and start placing the cherries in, leave room between and a nice 1 inch clearance around the edge.

Bake for 25-30 minutes. Obviously depending on the size of the pan this might vary. So just make sure that the center of the flan is cooked by inserting a toothpick into the middle, if it comes out clean, it’s ready.

Remove the pan from the oven and let it cool down to room temperature before serving.

Make sure to warn people about the pits or the tooth fairy will be left to pick up the pieces.

Leaving the pits in makes this dessert easier to make and the pits impart a pleasing almondy and clove-like aroma to the dessert. It could also be argued that because people have to slow down to eat the cherries, the clafouti will inevitably taste much better than wolfing it down. Leaving the pits in will save you from having to add thumbtacks or marbles…

City Rat is constantly food-blogging about trending ingredients he orders online, bristling at the latest TV food battles and going to eat at restaurants with yearlong waiting lists. Country Rat enjoys the aesthetics of leisurely reading a cookbook in a comfy chair, ambling through farmer’s markets to pick food by smell and sharing his food with friends. City Rat wants Country Rat’s ratatouille recipe so he can blog it.

Slow roasted country ratatouille

INGREDIENTS

3 vine-ripened tomatoes, quartered

2 sweet bell peppers, seeded

4 small zucchini

2 small eggplants

2 onions, quartered

6 cloves of garlic, peeled

1 Tbsp dried herbes de Provence

Or 2 Tbsp of assorted fresh herbs like basil, oregano and parsley

½ cup of really good olive oil

sauce

1-398 ml can of tomato purée

½ cup assorted pitted olives

olive brine to taste (salty liquid the olives are kept in)

Preheat your oven to 375˚ F.

Get a large metal baking dish.

Use the size of your quartered tomatoes as a guide. Cut the sweet pepper, zucchinis and eggplant into large chunks the size of the quartered tomatoes.  Quarter the onions and place everything into a large metal baking dish in one even layer.

Drizzle on the olive oil, scatter on the herbs and whole cloves of garlic.

Toss to make sure everything has a little oil and a little of the herb sprinkling on it.

Blap it all in the oven and roast for 1 hour, tossing it all once half way through roasting.

Remove from the oven and pour on the tomato purée and the pitted olives. Mix it all up to make sure the ratatouille is nicely covered.

Crank the oven heat up to 450˚F and bake for another 15-20 minutes until the sauce thickens and the flavours all get together and love one another.

Serve in a large ceramic bowl with a wooden spoon along with pretty much anything.

Here’s an article I recently wrote for Impact Magazine. For the complete article and more recipes pick up your copy at any of these places.

Hop back to the Paleolithic Stone Age and you’ll find that great-great-great-grandpa Grug was hunting and foraging for local, seasonal and organic food.

Since agriculture only became part of our existence 10,000 years ago the food we now produce and consume has been evolving at a faster pace than human evolution can keep up with. This food cannot be processed efficiently so we are not functioning properly. It’s not biologically appropriate to be snarffling all this nouveau cuisine.

The Paleolithic Diet, or Paleo, originated as a diet for athletes, offering peak performance through even energy access, reduced inflammation and faster recovery. It has gained traction through the growing legions of Crossfit athletes who strive for ‘constantly varied, high- intensity, functional movement’.

“It’s about getting leaner, meaner and more importantly healthier.” touts Crossfit Ramsay coach Ken Andrukow. His gym conducts 90-day Paleo Challenges to keep his athletes motivated and to help introduce new athletes to the diet. Andrukow offers recipe ideas, shopping guides, fitness tests and a body assessment to monitor results of the challenge. Andrukow admits “it takes guts to question the status quo and ask ‘Is there a better way?’”.

The Paleo principle is simple, eat the types of food we evolved for 2 million years to eat and avoid most of the stuff we started eating 10,000 years ago. Paleo concentrates on three big food groups to avoid: grains, dairy and legumes.

Say goodbye to grains like rice, wheat, corn and other refined starches. Dump out the dairy like skim milk, yogurt and cheese. Let go of the legumes like lentils, soy, beans and peanuts.

These foods cause inflammation of the gut and digestive system, which limit your cells from absorbing essential nutrients. Grains especially cause havoc on your glycemic levels, resulting in uneven energy and superfluous fat storage.

So what’s left to eat? Free-range meats, wild fish, seasonal vegetables, fresh herbs,  spices, seeds and nuts. But it doesn’t mean you can’t be a little more evolved than our foraging ancestors. Like all lovers of good food and grandpa Grug you can start foraging the markets for local, seasonal and organic food.

Some ingredients are not as black and white as say, the all-zebra diet. There are exceptions to the rules. Reading the Paleo Solution by Robb Wolf will sort out all the finer details and offer better understanding of the science.

With so many people out there eating Paleo, there are a growing number of recipe resources available to athletes looking for healthy and satisfyingly familiar foods that will help you perform optimally in a mammoth fur gonch.

Mammotherd’s pie

With any dietary adjustments, it’s the nostalgia of familiar comfort foods that will drag you back to your old ways of eating. Make this when you need a big batch of food for the week, when you need to feed people who don’t know what Paleo is or when you have a mammoth-sized appetite. It’s actually better than a classic Shepherd’s pie with more tasty flavours and the comforting warm-blanket mashed topper to make you feel all warm and wooly inside.

INGREDIENTS

500g ground lamb, beef, mammoth or any ground meat

2 onions, finely minced

2 ribs of celery, finely minced

1 butternut squash, peeled and grated or minced

1 Tbsp Worcestershire

2 Tbsp tomato paste

1 glass red wine

250 ml vegetable stock

¼ cup fresh chopped assorted herbs (rosemary, mint, thyme, oregano)

zest of 1 lemon or orange

mashed topper

2 head of cauliflower, quartered

2 sweet potatoes, peeled and quartered

olive oil and salt

PROCEDURE

Get two large pots on the stove.

Fill one with water and bring it to a boil for the mash. When the water comes to a boil drop in the peeled sweet potatoes and the cauliflower. Boil on a gentle simmer for 30 minutes or until the potatoes are nice and tender. When the veg are tender remove from the water and leave them to release steam for 10 minutes out of the water.

To mash the cauliflower you can just use a potato masher. For a smooth topper transfer the cauliflower and sweet potato to a food processor and blitz until very smooth. You may need to do this in batches. Set aside in a bowl and adjust seasoning with salt to taste.

In the other pot brown the lamb over medium high heat. Toss in the grated squash, onions and celery. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 10-15 minutes.

Stir in the tomato paste, Worcestershire, red wine and stock. Taste it and add salt as needed.

Preheat the oven to 425˚ F.

Bring the whole thing to a simmer. At the last minute, stir in the herbs and citrus (zest and juice) and pour the whole mess into an oven safe baking dish.

Spoon the mash onto the meaty filling and smooth out the top until evenly distributed. Use a fork to make lines and ridges that can get crispy on top. Drizzle the top with oil and sprinkle on some salt.

Blap the whole thing into the oven and bake until the veg are nice and golden and crispy on top.

When the mammotherd’s pie is done let it rest for about 10 minutes before serving.

To freeze, divide into small plastic containers and freeze in small packs.

Mammoth freezes really well for defrosting and eating later.

Here are some Paleo resources that will help you get started and keep going.

robbwolf.com

everydaypaleo.com

marksdailyapple.com

nomnompaleo.com

paleofood.com

The parsley was looking straight vibrant after a huge deluge.

Mezmerised by the little sparkly green emerald of water on the leaves I thought it a little insulting to consider parsley as a lame plate garnish. It’s got jade deposits of chlorophyll that brighten up the flavour and colour of a plate, of your food, of your disposition.

Here’s a light, bright dish to replenish your chlorophyll after the  rain storm.

Chuck a couple good sausages (These are Spragg’s Meat Shop Bangers) in a cast iron pan over medium low heat. Might as well toss a jalapeno in there like they do at Charcut. Meanwhile get the tomato salad going with some halved cherry tomatoes tossed with a buncha green stuff from the garden like little bits of parsley, pea shoots,  arugula, chives, thyme, whatever you can find. Or just keep it simple with the parsley.

Giver a good pinch pinch of salt (something grey and possibly from the French sea), some cracked pepper. Toss it about and get it on a plate with the sausages whenever the get around to being cooked.

Wanna look good in a bikini? Quit stuffing yourself with fettuccini. Instead stuff yourself with slimming summer squash transformed into a very satisfying zucchini linguini. Or for the gentlemen you can just put a zucchini in your bikini…

zucchini linguini

Serves 6 for a taste or 4 for a course

pesto

1 bunch fresh parsley

a large handful of arugula

1 clove garlic, grated or finely minced

1 cup walnuts

zest and juice of 1 lemon

salt to taste

1/2 cup olive oil

zucchini

2 large zucchinis

pinch of salt

scallops

12 large (U-10) scallops

garnish

½ bunch of chopped fresh parsley

fresh cracker pepper

really good olive oil

To make the lemony pesto

Combine all the pesto ingredients in a food processor and blend until mixture is consistently smooth. Scrape down the sides if needed. Use what you need for the past, and save the leftovers in the fridge topped with a lid of fresh oil and some plastic on top for up to a week.

To make the zucchini pasta.

Get a good vegetable peeler or a mandoline and start trimming off long ribbons of zucchini. Once your peeling hits the zip-strip of seeds in the center of the zucchini, rotate and peel the other side until all you have is the center core of seeds. Pile a couple of the ribbons on top of each other and slice them lengthwise into the desired thickness.

Get a large frying pan on the stove and let it warm up for 5 minutes. Dump all the zucchini into the pan, scoop on lots of pesto all over and toss to coat. Put a lid on and cook for 3 minutes to warm it through.

For the scallop

Get a large frying pan on high heat. Preheat the pan for 5 minutes.

Place all the scallops on a plate lined with paper towel. Lay some more paper towel on top and pat the scallops dry.

Get a small plate with oil ready. Dip the scallops lightly in the oil before placing them into the dry pan starting at 12-oclock (clock-face location) and make your may around clockwise. That way when you start flipping the scallops you can do them in order.

Cook the scallops until the bottoms are brown and seared, about 3 minutes. Flip and continue cooking the other side for 3 more minutes. Serve immediately and don’t let your scallops get over cooked.

Discard the dipping oil.

To serve

Serve up six piping hot bowls of zucchini ribbons and top each pile with a bit more pesto and two or 3 big scallops.

Crack on loads of pepper and a drizzle of good olive oil.

Serve zucchini linguini with a martini in your bikini.

The Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov conditioned his pet dog to expect a treat every time the he rang a bell. Eventually all Ivan had to do was ring the bell to get the dog drooling.  We have been conditioned to think that Rhubarb is a fruit because we associate it with sweet desserts and just the mention of a rhubarb pavlova should be enough to get you drooling.

Drool-inducing rhubarb pavlova

4 egg whites at room temperature

pinch of salt

250g sugar

2 tsp of cornstarch

1 teaspoon of white vinegar

1 tsp vanilla extract or vanilla paste

250ml of whipping cream

1 cup of rhubarb, chopped into 1 inch pieces

2 Tbsp white sugar

2 Tbsp water

1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat your oven to a very low 180˚F.

Get a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

Use some kind of electric beating device like a hand beater or ideally a standup mixer to beat the egg whites until they are slick and satiny. If they get dry and chunky you’ve mixed them too far.

Beat in the sugar ¼ at a time until incorporated.

Turn off the electric device and add the corn flour, vinegar and vanilla.

Usually folks use a rubber spatula to fold ingredients, but if you use the same gentle technique of scopping underneath the pile and bringing up through the middle using a whisk it will incorporate things much faster and deflate fewer bubbles.

Get a parchment paper lined baking sheet and using a large spoon scoop out and arrange even piles on the baking sheet. Once all the meringue are portioned out use the spoon to create a little divot in the center. It will look somewhat like a fly nest cloud.

As you put the pavlova into the oven, reduce the temperature to 150˚F. Bake for 45 minutes. Without opening the door, turn off the oven and let the meringues dry out and cool to room temperature.

If your oven does not go down as low as 150˚F, just bake at your lowest possible setting until they just start to get a little colour and then turn off the oven to let them dry out and cool to room temperature.

For the rhubarb. The more tender and young the stocks are the more they will want to fall apart. It’s okay if they do fall apart.

Get the sugar and water in to a small pot, bring to a simmer until the sugar dissolves. Add the rhubarb and vanilla cook for 1 minute. Reduce heat to a bare simmer, place a lid on top and cook until the rhubarb is just tender, 5-10 minutes. Let it rest and cool down to room temperature while you make the whipped cream.

Whip cream in a cold bowl until thickened but still kinda pourable.

To assemble. Place pavlova on a plate. Fill the nest area with a sloppy scoop of rhubarb and flop some whipped cream on top.

gets along with

Pavlovas get along smashingly with fresh fruit like kiwis, strawberries and oranges. Also try topping with citrus curds like lemon and passionfruit. Top with booze infused whipping cream and enjoy making a sweetly sticky mess.

fresh pick

Rhubarb is known as ‘the pie fruit’, even though it’s a vegetable. With Russian origins, it has taken the dessert world by storm with it’s tart flavour, prolific early growing season and adorable pink colour.

If you are picking from the garden, grab hold tight and tug each stalk individually out of the ground. When buying in the store, pick rhubarb that is nice and pink and about as thick as your thumb.

The leaves of the rhubarb plant are poisonous, so don’t eat your greens.

If you can dedicate a big patch of backyard to the prolific plant, then you can plant it and reap the bounty. Or buy it at local farmers’ markets or roadside fruit stands.