Spiced Rhubarb Iced Tea

Watching the Food Network, it is not hard to have food envy of all the Food Trucks throughout North America.  I long for the days when we might see this type of eating establishments on wheels come through Southern Ontario.  In the meantime, I have stumbled upon a few places that are providing fun one-day-only type lunches. There is great entertainment in not knowing what you might be eating and also racing to get there before it's sold out.

 Nick and Nat’s Uptown 21 has a Brown Bag Friday lunch.  The concept is simple: $5 for a one of a kind sandwich with homemade iced tea until sold out.  Sandwich details are tweeted a day or two before and unless you act quickly, you will miss out.  Recently I was lucky enough to stop by and enjoy a fantastic veggie creation of Portobello mushrooms in a cheesy sauce with crispy fried onions.  But the real star of this $5 lunch was the Spiked Rhubarb Iced Tea.  Days after having this I was still dreaming of that tasty drink and fantasizing how I might create it at home. 

This recipe might not be exactly how they made it, but it’s pretty close.  It’s a great use of your thicker rhubarb stalks that have perhaps overgrown in your garden.  I used a loose white tea, but I suspect you could easily use tea bags of any kind.  The rhubarb provides tartness, while the fennel and coriander lend savory undertones to the barely sweetened tea.  Do yourself a favour and make a pitcher of this tea for those hot summer days.  And if you happen to live in Waterloo, I highly recommend stopping by for their Friday lunch. 

 Spiked Rhubarb Iced Tea

10 cups water
4 Tbsp fennel seeds
2 Tbsp coriander seeds
6 stalks rhubarb chopped
10 Tbsp loose white tea (or 5 tea bags)
¼ cup honey

Bring all ingredients to a boil and allow to steep at least 20min and up to 2hrs.  Strain through a fine mesh sieve and serve over ice.  Enjoy!