Savor a taste of spring with rhubarb-strawberry sorbet

Backyard plants are producing the year’s first crops of rhubarb, and what better way to use those stalks than in a gorgeous pink frozen concoction that tastes like spring?

Don’t worry if you don’t grow it; grocery stores carry it, too.

Rhubarb-strawberry sorbet

3/4pound rhubarb (5 or 6 thin stalks), trimmed

3/4cup sugar

10ounces fresh strawberries (about 1 1/2 cups)

1/2teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

Cut the rhubarb into half-inch pieces. If your rhubarb stalks are more than an inch wide, slice them in half lengthwise.

In a medium, nonreactive saucepan, bring the rhubarb, 2/3 cup water and the sugar to a boil. Reduce the heat, cover and simmer until the rhubarb is tender and cooked through, about 5 minutes. Cool to room temperature.

Slice the strawberries and puree them in a blender or food processor with the cooked rhubarb mixture and lemon juice until smooth.

Chill the mixture thoroughly, then freeze in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

Makes 1 1/2 quarts.

Adapted from David Lebovitz’s “The Perfect Scoop.”