Blueberries!

One of my yearly July rituals is picking blueberries. Blueberries are extremely nutritious, and also one of the most refreshing and convenient foods to eat in the heat of the summer. If you pick enough, you can also freeze them and continue enjoying their health benefits and deliciousness for many months to come.  I am lucky to live near several organic/no-spray blueberry farms, and I have visited three of them regularly in the past few years. Today, my mom joined me at the Friendly Grove Blueberry Farm, where we had perfect weather for picking lots of tasty berries. I have also  enjoyed picking at Carr's Organic Blueberry Farm, and Blue Horizons Farm.  There is something really cool about having seasonal rituals to look forward to, and when I woke up this morning, I knew that I wanted to do my first pick today. Last year, I ate all of the blueberries I picked before I got a chance to freeze them, so this year, I'll need to be sure to go out a few more times to make sure I get my freezer (and belly) full of blueberries before the season is over!

Chocolate-Cherry No Bake Pie

Tonight I made a pie by pairing components of two separate desserts and then topping them with fresh cherries. It turned out really well, and is quite healthy as far as desserts go. Recipe #1 is here. It's a raw fruit pie that I've tried making before. The crust is amazing, but the cashew "cream" in the original recipe didn't turn out well for me- maybe because I don't have a high speed blender- I couldn't get the texture right, and it tasted like sweet hummus,ugh! So I was looking for something else creamy to use for a filling and I came across this recipe for a chocolate mousse that's made from avocados. Perfect! I didn't have the raw cacao powder or coconut nectar that the original calls for, so I used cocoa powder and honey+maple syrup. I also learned a great trick for pitting cherries! If you don't have a cherry pitter, check out this video for a demonstration of pitting cherries using a bottle and a chopstick. Anyhow, this pie takes awhile to make, but it's a delicious and healthy sweet for a hot night when you want to impress someone and you don't want to use your oven.

Chocolate-Cherry No Bake Pie
adpted from recipes at lifewithgreens.com and thekitchn.com

Pie Crust:

8 medjool dates

1 cup raw unsweetened coconut

1 cup nuts ( I've used both raw and toasted, both are good)

1/4 teaspoon of sea salt

2 teaspoons of vanilla

Directions: Place all ingredients into a food processor with the “S” blade. Pulse and mix until moist and formable. Transfer raw pie crust mixture to a pie pan of your choice and press into the sides of the pan.

Make Pie crust first. Place in the refrigerator to chill while you are working on the other ingredients.

Chocolate Avocado Pie Filling

4 ripe avocados
, cut into chunks

1/3 cup honey

2 Tbs maple syrup

1/2 cup raw cocoa powder


1 teaspoon vanilla extract


pinch of salt
fresh fruit and nuts for garnish

In a food processor, blend avocado until smooth. Add all other ingredients, blending until mixture is uniform. Chill for half an hour in the freezer.

Next make the chocolate filling. Put it in the freezer to chill while you are pitting the cherries

About 1lb cherries, pitted 

Go on, pit those cherries!

Remove pie crust from refrigerator. Place half the pitted cherries on top of the crust in a uniform pattern. Top with chocolate filling (I only used about ¾ of the filling recipe in the pie). Top with remaining cherries. Serve immediately or keep in the refrigerator for later enjoyment.