Life's Little Rhubarb Cookbook: 101 Rhubarb Recipes (Cooking at Its Best from Avery Color Studios)

"Rhubarb, rhubarb, rhubarb" was what crowds in a Hollywood movie muttered when stewing about something. Life's Little Rhubarb Cookbook will make you want to stew, too--and cook up rhubarb in dozens of other ways, as well. Besides offering recipes for pies and a host of other old-fashioned desserts, Joan Bestwick shows how to serve rhubarb from breakfast to dinner--before dessert. She offers cinnamony muffins with a dollop of peach and rhubarb filling in the center, easy Rhubarb Chutney to serve with cottage cheese at lunch, refreshing Rhubarb and Lemon Punch sweetened with pineapple juice, and for a midafternoon treat, a "pizza" of rhubarb puree on a flattened pie crust dotted with strawberry "pepperoni," dried black cherry "olives," and a shower of grated white chocolate "cheese."

Famous chefs have paired rhubarb with chicken, fish, and meats in savory dishes. Bestwick proves how well this works in a baked chicken casserole that may inspire you to try rhubarb in other main courses. And, understanding that today time is as precious as calories, Bestwick's dishes generally require around 30 minutes of preparation and call for 5 or less ingredients. The salads in this slim volume are colorful, sparkling, and easy gelatin molds. Set one a buffet table or put it out at a potluck and watch confirmed food snobs find it irresistible. --Dana Jacobi