vegan, gluten free, spring time lovely: key lime avocado pie

been toying with this idea for some time now.  finally had some time and the ingredients to try it out the other day...and i dare say it was a hit.  definitely a looker:

this is super easy, healthy, vegan, gluten free, flour free, light, creamy, refreshing, and really yummy.  sound like a good deal?  i kind of thought so :)
in the past, i'd made lots of varieties of tasty avocado puddings for breakfast, post workout meals, and light healthy snacks.  one of them happened to be of the key lime variety...so it was really just a matter of time before the real deal made it's debut featuring the old favorite with a few tweaks.  give it a shot and see what you think!  the good news is with a pie this healthy, you're not just restricted to one teeny tiny micro slice, either.  you can actually have a big ol' wedge of it and not feel like a glutton.  we ate it for breakfast for 2 days in a row...and yeah...i'm totally cool with that.  it's so good for you!

key lime avocado pie

makes one 8-9 inch pie or a few tiny pies.  i used a 9 inch pan and it came out around the thickness of a tart, which was neat, but a smaller pie tin would probably get you a thicker, more traditionally stacked pie.

crust ingredients:

• 1/2 cup dates
• 2 T pumpkin seeds
• 2 T flaxmeal
• 3 T unsweetened shredded coconut
• 2 T unsweetened apple sauce
• 1/4 cup nuts (i used peanuts since nick is allergic to tree nuts, but pistachios would be pretty righteous with this...or walnuts or cashews)
• 1/8 ts baking soda
• 1/4 to 1/2 ts cinnamon
• 1/4 cup water as needed to help with blending

preheat your oven to 250.  soften the dates in the microwave by covering them with water and microwaving for a minute at a time until tender.  drain the water and throw them in your blender or food processor with the other ingredients and blend on low or pulse until all combined into a thick, mushy paste, adding water as needed.  i like to leave a little bit of texture in my crust to give it a little bit of crunch and a little more backbone, so i don't blend it until totally smooth, just until there aren't any whole piece of dates, nuts, or seeds left and it looks pretty consistent throughout.  helpful hint: if you'd like to make it a little easier on yourself, you can grind the nuts and seeds into a coarse meal beforehand to help with getting the consistency more even.  a coffee grinder would work for this, or you could probably just blend them first and then add the rest of the ingredients.  just don't over grind them....you don't want to turn them into nut butter, just a coarse meal or little bitty chunks.  once everything is blended, scrape the paste into a 8-9 inch pie tin that has been lightly greased or sprayed with cooking spray.  using a spatula/spoon/your fingers start to press it to fit the bottom of the tin and up the sides a bit, being careful not to tear it or leave any holes.  you don't want it to be thinner than 1/4 inch anywhere, so baby it while you shape it.  no wimpy crusts!  mighty crusts make mighty pies.  once it's all beefed up and ready to go, put the tin in the preheated oven and bake it for about 15-20 minutes or until firm and a little dry.  while it bakes, you can get the filling ready

filling ingredients:

• 2 large avocados
• 1 medium banana
• about 3 oz soft tofu (generally 1 serving or 1/5 block of nasoya or most other kinds of tofu)
• 1/4 cup soy (or any) milk
• 1/2 ts stevia
• 1 ts vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup lime juice
• 1 heaping tablespoon agar flakes (you can generally find this stuff at health food stores.  it's a really nutritious, flavorless algae used as a vegan thickening agent that works similarly to gelatin, though not quite as....jello-y?)

rinse out your blender/food processor from the last round and blend the avocados, banana, tofu, soy milk, vanilla, and stevia until smooth.  in a small sauce pan, bring the lime juice to a light boil.  remove from heat and whisk in the agar flakes until completely dissolved.  let the juice sit for a bit to thicken.  once it's cooled and thickened up a bit, pour it in with the avocado mixture and blend until well combined with all the other ingredients.  once your pie crust has finished baking, allow it to cool a bit, and then fill with the lime, avocado pudding mixture, smoothing the top with a spoon or spatula.  at this point, i also added some zest from a few of the limes that i juiced on the top of my pie for a little extra color and limey-ness, but you don't have to.  put the pie in the fridge and let it set for at least a few hours until firm.  i let mine sit over night and it turned out just right...creamy, cool, a little thicker than pudding...almost like a softer flan in consistency.

the finished product, before adding any fanciness on top

 the taste of this is awesome.  not too sweet, creamy, a hint of banana, and lightly limey.  we loved it with fresh strawberry slices and a little dusting of coconut. 

the crust is a bit soft, so be careful when serving, but overall i'd say this was a winner.  in the future, i may up the amount of lime juice to make it a bit more limey in flavor.  if you decide to go this route, just make sure that you up the amount of agar as well.  agar can be a bit fussy when used with highly citric juices, so be patient with it.  next time i may try using 3/4 cup lime juice with 2 scant tablespoons of agar.  this is a new ingredient for me as well, so i'm still learning myself.  so far though, definitely a fan!  it's really low in calories (nearly calorie free), extremely high in fiber, acts as a mild detox supplement by helping to carry toxins from the body, and is also high in Folate, Calcium, Iron, Magnesium, Potassium, Manganese, Vitamin E, Vitamin K, Pantothenic Acid, Zinc and Copper.  plus, it works similarly to gelatin, but without the animally weirdness.  pretty cool, right?  i will definitely be playing around with this more in the future.  stay tuned!

the dessert defense

so, i have a confession.  i eat dessert.  for breakfast.  a lot.  but honestly, i've gotten to a point where i feel like it's alright, no scratch that, it's best if i let my crazy little breakfast brain have what it wants.  if i'm really in the mood for something, there's no sense in depriving myself and feeling sad and cranky about the many cakes/pastries/treats that could have been.  food is supposed to taste awesome and make you feel good.  so why not kill 2 birds with 1 stone and make an effort to eat food that does both?  it really is possible...all you need is a little creativity, quality ingredients, and some good inspiration.  a solid blender wouldn't hurt either...i'm kind of in the middle of a love affair with mine since the big purchase a few months ago.  *swoon*  but i digress.  bottom line is this: i've kind of come to realize that there's no sense in following some strict diet or weird code of eating ethic with myself that feels like punishment.  i'm driven by reward.  sweet, gooey, cakey, chocolatey, crunchy, spicy reward.  but there IS a way to treat myself sensibly so that i'm still fueling my body with the things it craves nutritionally in addition to the treats in question.  knowing that i'm doing both feels doubley good.  that's why when i wake up with some absurd craving for pudding, chocolate, dumplings, AND pie all at once, i decide what the hell?  let's give it a go.

it's a bird!  it's a plane!  it's...hmmm...a little bit of everything?

cocoa pudding stuffed dumpling pies
ohhh yeah...
makes about 2 mini dumpling pies

preheat your oven to 375 and start to make your cocoa avocado pudding:

• 1 large ripe avocado
• 1/2 large banana or 1 small
• 1 T fat free cottage cheese
• 1 ts vanilla extract
• 1/8 to 1/4 ts stevia (start small and add more if you need it...this stuff is sweeeeet.  or you can use another sweetener if you'd like, but you may need a bit more)
• 1 heaping T unsweetened cocoa powder
• splash of soy (or any) milk...just enough to help with blending
• dash of cinnamon (optional)

now you're going to have to trust me on this one.  avocado may seem like the last thing that belongs in a sweet tooth driven, chocolate laden fantasy, but it actually blends into an incredibly smooth, creamy, decadently textured neutral canvas that easily adopts other flavors.  cocoa just happens to work amazingly well.  so, now that we've overcome the fear, let's make some pudding.
throw all ingredients into a blender or food processor and blend on low or pulse until smooth.  you may have to work with it a bit to make sure it all blends.  it tends to get very thick and require a bit of assistance in my little blender, but it's nothing a little scraping of the edges and stirring to the bottom won't fix.  once it's all smooth and pudding-like, set it aside or even chill it a bit while you get your dough ready.

dumpling pie crust:

• heaping 1/2 cup of garbanzo bean flour (or other flour if you'd like to try something else.  i just really like garbanzo bean flour for its consistency and nutrition.  i haven't made this with anything else to vouch for other outcomes, but experiment if you'd like!)
• 2 T flaxmeal
• 1/4 ts baking powder
• 1/2 ts cinnamon
• 2 T unsweetened apple sauce
• 1 T agave or honey

mix all the ingredients together in a bowl to make a doughy mass.  you may need to add more flour if the dough seems too sticky.  you will want to be able to handle it with your hands without a lot of it goo-ing onto your fingers.  once mixed, split the dough into 2 lumps and transfer onto a small foil lined baking sheet that has been sprayed with cooking oil or lightly greased.  sprinkle each dough lump with flour to keep it from sticking to your hands, and flatten into little pancakes, being careful that they don't tear.  add more flour to the surface as needed to make it easier to work with. 

one little dumpling pie ready to set sail, and another on the way

garbanzo bean flour tends to be rather fragile since it's such a fine powder, but produces a really yummy, creamy consistency with baked goods.  you could try this with other flours if you'd like.  it may be a bit easier to work with and may not require so much care, but will most likely come out with a completely different sort of consistency.  i happen to love garbanzo bean flour, but it can be tricky to work with if you're not used to it.
after you've made your little pancakes, it's time to add your filling.  spoon about 2 T of pudding into the center of each pancake, leaving a good amount of the pancake edge to work with.  you want to be sure you don't have too much filling, since you'll have to wrap it all up in a second.

you'll have about half of your pudding left.  you can either cover it and save it in the fridge for later, double the batch amount for the dumpling dough and make more pastries with it, or eat it right away.  i may or may not have lightly considered the first two options only to fully commit to the third.  ahem.
next, start to carefully bring the edges of the pancake up and over the pudding, pinching together at the top to make your little dumplings.  spray the tops lightly with cooking spray and sprinkle with cinnamon.

choco pudding vessel all locked and loaded!

put them in the oven on the middle rack and bake for 12 minutes or so...until the crust has started to brown and crisp a bit at the peaks.  top with a drizzle of agave, maple syrup, or honey, a little cinnamon, some fruit and relish in the fact that each one of these delicious little pudding pockets has about as much protein as a single serving of lean turkey breast, 12 g of fiber (that's nearly half your RDA) with under 275 calories.  not so shabby, eh?

who says health food sucks?