A Solid Marriage: Strawberry and Rhubarb

You know those couples you meet where they both just seem to bring out the best in each other? That perhaps individually they may not have been able to achieve what they do together?  Like Rodgers and Hammerstein perhaps or even Bonnie and Clyde!  Well, I think you could place strawberry and rhubarb in that great couple's classification, too, minus the bank robbing part! The tartness and tang of the rhubarb marries so well with the delicate sweetness of fresh strawberries!

Strawberries are especially perfect in June and fresh rhubarb is making an appearance right about now as well. Yes, Mother Nature has that one planned pretty well. So take advantage and freeze up this little number to add some refreshment to those hot summer days.  No refined sugar here and the vitamin K and calcium in the rhubarb and the vitamin C and manganese in the strawberries should make you feel good about every bite that melts on your tongue.

Strawberry Rhubarb Granita

This does not take a lot of effort, just use of your timer to remind yourself to do some brief scraping. It is a good thing to make when you will be around for the day doing other things at home as you have to come back and scrape away (or have someone else do it for you) several times.

Gather

• 3 cups water
• 1 1/2 cups raw honey
• 1.5 cups rhubarb stalks, chopped. 
• 1 cup strawberries, sliced
• juice of 1/2 lemon

Now do this

• Place water, raw honey, rhubarb and strawberries in pot.
• Simmer together until rhubarb and strawberries are tender -  about 10 minutes.
• Strain fruit from the liquid and pour strained liquid in 8 x 8 pyrex pan.
• Add lemon juice and stir around.
• Place pan in freezer and put timer on for 90 minutes.
• At 90 minutes,  remove granita from freezer and gently scrape surface, with a fork, to break apart the formed ice crystals. 
• Place dish back in the freezer and continue to remove from freezer and scrape every 60 minutes for the next five hours or or until you have a baking dish of “shaved” ice.
• To serve, spoon a small amount the granita into small cups and top each with a sprig of mint.
• Serve immediately.

granita:photo credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/40878536@N08/5893349730/">Mari Liis</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/">cc</a>
rhubarb: photo credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/haikugirl/4698460852/">Heather Quintal</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/">cc</a>