Seasonal Recipes - Rhubarb & Chia Jam

Even though it’s been a bit dreary and wet lately, make no mistake, we’ve reached spring and there’s only warm weather and blue skies ahead (hopefully).

Here at Earth + City we’ve been introducing some new spring products that you may have seen at your local farmers’ market, online or at local shops. New macaroon flavours, coconut yogurt flavours and seed bread just to name a few.

Spring brings with it new opportunities to experiment in the kitchen as new produce is reintroduced. This week we noticed that rhubarb has reappeared at the markets. Did you know that although rhubarb looks like celery it’s actually most closely related to sorrel?

Rhubarb season spans April to June and the best rule of thumb when choosing rhubarb is that the redder the stalk, the sweeter the flavour. Also the leaves are poisonous so leave those alone.

We have a delicious and super easy rhubarb jam recipe for you. Great on toast, in oatmeal or even atop a smoothie bowl, this jam recipe will quickly become a staple.  

Ingredients:

1lb rhubarb, (stalks only), washed and cut into chunks

1 cup sugar (you can use coconut sugar or maple sugar here too, also use less if you prefer it tart)

⅓ cup water

3 tbsp chia seeds

Place the chopped rhubarb, sugar and water into a small saucepan and place on the stovetop on medium heat.

Bring the mixture to a low boil, stirring constantly to dissolve the sugar and cook the rhubarb. This should take around 8 minutes.

Once the rhubarb is fully cooked (it should be very soft), turn off the heat and allow the mixture to cool for a few minutes.

Once the mixture has cooled slightly, add the chia seeds and stir through. The chia seeds will absorb any remaining liquid and thicken the mixture into a jam-like consistency.

When the jam mixture is fully cooled, spoon into a jar and keep in the fridge. The jam should last around 1-2 weeks.

Enjoy!