5 recipes from the Star Tribune archives that celebrate rhubarb

It's rhubarb season, and to many Minnesota cooks, there's no sweeter time. Its popularity continues to rise as the tart vegetable pops up in everything from muffins and desserts to cocktails and beer, and is cooked up alongside grilled pork and chicken or added to a spicy butter to slather on fresh-baked bread. Treat yourself with these recipes from the Star Tribune archives.

Former Star Tribune writer Kim Ode literally wrote the book on rhubarb — her "Rhubarb Renaissance" was published in 2012. It was there that we discovered this recipe, which leans on graham crackers for added flavor and texture. And the story, written in 2021, is just as sweet as the muffins. Find the recipe here.

If you're not in the mood to mess with pie, Star Tribune Taste writer Beth Dooley has a recipe that eschews the strawberry-rhubarb combination for one with a citrusy note. The result is an easy-to-make compote that's just sweet and versatile enough to be used as a topping for ice cream, angel food cake and waffles, or whisked into mayo for sandwiches and salads. Make plenty, it'll freeze. Find the recipe, from 2022, here.

Everyone wants to be friends with rhubarb, and cherries get a turn in this 2019 recipe from Star Tribune Taste writer Meredith Deeds. She mellows the tartness of rhubarb with sweet dried cherries and brown sugar, and heightens the flavor with cider vinegar and pomegranate juice (which also deepens the color). The result is a spicy chutney that not only dresses up grilled chicken, but pork and lamb, too. Find the recipe here.

Fans of New Scenic Cafe along Duluth's North Shore are very familiar with chef Scott Graden's seasonal pie, which he calls "another sought-after treat" in his 2014 cookbook, "New Scenic Cafe: The Cookbook." Former Star Tribune Taste writer Rick Nelson called out the pie on several occasions, including a reprint of the recipe heralding the book's release here.

In 2008, the Taste section covered the release of Edina author Pat Sinclair's new cookbook, "Scandinavian Classic Baking" (Pelican Publishing). More than 40 recipes that are the foundation of baking traditions in Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland set both novice and experienced cooks on a sugar-filled culinary course. Find the recipe here.