Cardamom gives this compote an alluring flavor. Spoon it over pound cake, cheesecake, ice cream or go savory and serve it with pork. It will keep refrigerated and tightly covered for 4-5 days. Danielle adapted this recipe from Fine Cooking and demoed during April 2015 as part of our Colors of Spring month.
1 ½ lbs. rhubarb, rinsed and sliced into ½-inch pieces
1 lb strawberries, hulled and thickly sliced
½ C honey; more to taste
¼ C orange juice
½ t cardamom
1 small vanilla bean, slit and seeds scraped from pod
¼ t sea salt
Combine the rhubarb, honey, orange juice, cardamom and salt in a large saucepan. With a pairing knife, slit the vanilla bean open lengthwise and with the back of the knife carefully scrape out the seeds. Add the seeds and the pod to the rhubarb.