Rhubarb Pistachio Quick Bread

Did I mention I had an assload of pistachios? I did? Well I guess you shouldn’t be surprised by this recipe, now should you? So stop judging me! I have little control at grocery stores and will put things in my basket that are totally illogical…like a big ass bag of pistachios when I only needed a cup for ice cream. Yes, I know it doesn’t make a lick of sense, but I have a problem…and I don’t really care to stop. Now on to the bread!

I now love rhubarb! How could I have gone my whole life without ever tasting this fabulous…uhmmm, is it a fruit or a vegetable? Nope, it’s a vegetable (thanks Wikipedia!). After making it for the first time in a pie, I have been trying to come up with more ways to incorporate it into my cooking and baking. I haven’t yet found a good entree dish for rhubarb (I’m sure there are plenty, but I’m lazy), but the ideas keep coming for baked goods. This idea came from the King Arthur flour website in the form of their Walnut Strawberry Quick Bread. The recipe talks about replacing the strawberries for rhubarb (and for even doing a strawberry rhubarb combo), but I decided to adapt it even further with some pistachios and a few other things.

3/4 cup pistachios

1 1/2 cup all purpose flour

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon cardamom

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon lemon zest

2 eggs

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 1/4 cup rhubarb, cubed

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Put the cubed rhubarb in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally until it has turned to mush. Set aside and allow it to cool completely. Sift together all the dry ingredients (including the lemon zest) into a large mixing bowl. In a measuring cup, combine the vegetable oil and eggs and then whisk in the cooled rhubarb mush until all blended. Pour the rhubarb mixture into the dry ingredients and stir until combined. Add in the pistachios and stir once more to incorporate them into the batter.

Grease a 9×5 inch loaf pan and pour the batter into it. Bake the bread for 50 to 60 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the center of it. Allow the bread to cool in the pan for at least 30 minutes (the recipe says 15, but I found 30 to work even better) and then remove it from the pan. Allow it to rest for another hour before slicing it up!