Spring's Bounty: Berry Rhubarb Parfait

 

Spring's Bounty: Berry Rhubarb Parfait

One of the reasons I wanted to keep going with these projects was to force myself to try recipes I've had forever but for some reason have never had the guts to try. This was one of them. I think I've been intimidated by working with rhubarb, something I wasn't familiar with, and didn't always have good luck finding at the store. I shouldn't have waited so long, because this was super easy to make and really good! Since I don't have a source listed for this one, I'm going to list out the recipe here and will post pictures below it.

Berry Rhubarb Parfait

3 cups sliced fresh or frozen rhubarb(1" pieces)

1/3 cup sugar

1/4 cup orange juice

2 cups light whipped topping

1 pt. fresh strawberries, halved

Fresh mint, optional

In a saucepan, combine rhubarb, sugar, and orange juice; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 6-8 minutes or until rhubarb is tender. Cool slightly. Pour into a blender container, cover, and blend until smooth. Chill.

Just before serving, fold rhubarb mixture into whipped topping until lightly streaked. In 6 chilled parfait glasses, alternate layers of cream mixture and strawberries. Top with strawberries and a sprig of mint, if desired.

Makes 6 servings.

Not a long list of ingredients for this one. Yes, I use Cool Whip. Or the store brand version, I'm not picky. As a lactose intolerant person, this is an important item in my life, even though they put a small amount of dairy back into it a few years ago. It seems to be a low enough level that it doesn't bother me, thankfully.

Rhubarb is not difficult to work with at all. It's a bit like celery to cut. I ended up not having 3 cups, but it still worked out in the end.

Here it is all cooked down and ready to cool off a bit.

It turned out to be so soft that I didn't need to use a blender. I just used a wooden spoon and stirred and mashed it and that's really all it needed. If you don't have a blender, you can just to that instead.

Several hours later, I chilled the mashed rhubarb mixture and stirred the Cool Whip into it. It's not as vibrant in the picture, but it's a nice pink color. It's pretty sweet, but not sickly sweet. It might have been less sweet if I'd had enough rhubarb.

Here are all the elements ready for assembly. Strawberries are starting to look really nice now at the store, so stock up!

I don't have parfait glasses but this is a clear drinking glass that did just as good a job. It's hard to tell, but there are multiple layers of strawberry slices in all of that!

Pretty strawberries for the top! I don't have mint, so I didn't put that on, and didn't miss it. 

This one was really good. It's light and indulgent but not really that indulgent. I made my sister try it and she approved. She said it was like eating strawberry shortcake without the shortcake, which I would agree with. This would be good with angelfood cake or shortcake or crushed cookies mixed in the layers too, if you wanted. I think crushed gingersnaps might be good because it would add a nice crunch. That was an element missing from this. But I really liked this one. It definitely embodies spring!

If you want to try something light and different and fruit-based, definitely give this a try. If you've been putting off trying to cook/bake with rhubarb too, this is a good easy level recipe to try it with. You won't be disappointed!