Several years ago, when I used to teach high school on the west side of Chicago, the end of August meant gearing up for the start of the new academic year. I remember feeling very nervous in the weeks leading up to the first day of school. In preparation for the first day, I would head to my classroom a week before school began and tidy up the desks, chairs, bulletin boards, and learning materials. No matter how prepared I felt, the first few weeks of school were always the toughest. I never knew what challenges I would face until school actually started the day after Labor Day. This year marks four years since I left the classroom. Whenever I reflect back on my experience teaching high schoolers through the Teach For America program, I still remember the combination of nervousness and excitement I would feel around this time of the year. No amount of preparation could have prepared me for the challenges I would face in the classroom though. Whenever I had a tough day, I always found peace and solace in the kitchen. Kavya, my roommate at the time, would always be around to test out new desserts I made in the kitchen. She was vegetarian, so she could only test out meatless recipes and since most of the recipes I made without meat were desserts, those were the ones she tested out. Kavs absolutely loved the strawberry cupcakes I made for her birthday one year and would always request it as a dessert for special occasions thereafter. As I reflected back on my days testing out desserts in my Chicago kitchen, I wanted to share a new recipe for a lemon strawberry pie with a pistachio coconut graham cracker crust I made over the weekend. I used most of a 2-pound box of fresh strawberries and the zest and juice of a lemon to make the filling for my pie. My graham cracker crust was made with a package (about 9 sheets of graham crackers), some refined coconut oil, unsalted pistachios, kosher salt, and sugar. The pie can definitely be made into a vegan-friendly pie by swapping out the honey graham crackers with vegan graham crackers or cookies. The first time I made the pie, I used butter. This time around, I used refined coconut oil. The refined coconut oil worked very well in helping the pistachios and graham crackers adhere together. It also worked perfectly as a substitute for butter. Instead of using gelatin, I used a corn starch slurry to thicken up the filling for the pie. Once the pie crust was prepared and chilled in the fridge and the lemon strawberry filling was prepared and cooled, I just poured the filling into the pie crust and transferred the pie into the refrigerator to chill. The best part about the pie was not having to bake it in the oven. It was such a simple and delicious no-bake pie and made for the perfect dessert to serve on hot summer days. It was also the perfect dessert for using up the abundance of strawberries I had sitting in my fridge. I almost prepared some coconut whipped cream to serve with my pie, but I decided last minute to save the can of coconut milk for my coconut milk bubble tea. The lemon strawberry pie with pistachio coconut graham cracker crust took about an hour to prepare and chill in the fridge. It made for the perfect dessert to celebrate the end of summer vacation and start of back-to-school season.
Lemon Strawberry Pie with Pistachio Coconut Graham Cracker Crust:
For the pistachio coconut graham cracker crust:
· 9 sheets of graham crackers
· ¼ cup refined coconut oil
· ¼ cup unsalted pistachios
· 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
· 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
For the lemon strawberry filling:
· 1½ pounds fresh strawberries, quartered
· 1 lemon, zested and juiced
· ¼ cup sugar
· corn starch slurry (2-3 tablespoons of cornstarch and 2-3 tablespoons of water combined)
Directions:
1) In a food processor, blend together the graham crackers, refined coconut oil, pistachios, sugar, and salt. Pour the blended ingredients into a pie pan. Press the graham cracker mixture into the pie pan until you form a tightly packed pie crust. Place the pie pan and graham cracker crust into the refrigerator to chill for about 30 minutes.
2) Heat a pot on medium low heat. Add a pound of the quartered strawberries into the pot. Add the lemon zest, lemon juice, and sugar. Cook the strawberries until they begin to thicken up, about 10-13 minutes. Slowly add the corn starch slurry into the pot, one tablespoon at a time. The lemon strawberry filling should begin to thicken up right away. Depending on the consistency you prefer, you may not need to use the entire corn starch slurry mixture. Remove the pot from the stove and let the filling cool.
3) Once the filling has cooled, fold in the remaining half pound of quartered strawberries. Pour the lemon strawberry filling into the pie crust. Place the lemon strawberry pie back into the refrigerator to chill for about another 20 minutes prior to serving.
Takeaways: The first time I made the lemon strawberry pie, I used butter instead of the refined coconut oil for the pie crust. Butter was a classic ingredient added to make graham cracker crusts and of course the pie crust turned out amazing. The second time around, I challenged myself to swap out the butter and use refined coconut oil instead. The refined coconut oil worked just as well in helping the crust adhere together and added a delicious creamy, toasty element to the pie crust. The crust turned out so great, I just had to share my findings.