strawberry-rhubarb pie

the other day me and my momma went to the local farmers market and bought so many veggies we had to make a trip to the car to drop some off before we got more. so our fridges are packed and i'm ready to wind down the summer with a bunch of new recipes.

we ended up getting the usual baby red potatoes, green peppers, corn, spinach, green onions, cabbage etc but also a few new things we either haven't had in a long time or rarely use: red beets, rhubarb, and fennel. my boyfriend J got me interested in making rhubarb and i just had to make it at least once this summer. he loves it and i am glad after making this recipe that i do as well!

truthfully he was disappointed it wasn't just rhubarb and no strawberries. that was the plan until i tried a raw rhubarb and thought it'd be safer to add a sweeter fruit with it in case it came out too tangy and sour for our liking. however, magically it wasn't as sour as i thought it would be once it came out of the oven. it was much softer of course and blended well with the sweet mixture.

i love this simple recipe thanks to figgyandsprout because it is very simple, healthy and has far less sugar than the other recipes i looked at. i didn't have rice flour and used all purpose flour instead, otherwise the recipe was the same.

9" pie crust

ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour (rice flour if you have it)
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1 tablespoon agave nectar
• pinch of salt
• 1 tablespoon ground flax seed + 3 tablespoons of water
• 1/4 cup earth balance (vegan buttery spread) melted
• cold water (add few tablespoons at a time)

how to:

1.  stir together the flax seed mixture and butter in a bowl then add the agave nectar
2.  combine all the dry ingredients and sift them in to the wet ingredients^^
3. stir with a wooden spoon and add very small amounts of cold water just until the dough is combined and can hold
4. lightly oil your pie pan
5. transfer the dough to the pie pan and using your hands or a flat surface spread the dough everywhere evenly and as far up on the sides of the pan as you can

strawberry-rhubarb filling

ingredients:

• 3 cups thinly sliced rhubarb
• 2 cups roughly chopped strawberries
• 1/2 cup agave nectar, or other sweetener
• 1/4 cup tapioca or cornstarch
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1 tsp lemon zest

how to:

1. preheat oven to 425 degrees F
2. combine all of the filling ingredients in a large bowl
3. add the filling to the prepared pie crust; cover with tin foil and poke a few holes in the foil to let the steam escape
4. bake for about 20 minutes at 425 degrees F. lower the heat to 325 and bake for another 30-35 minutes, filling should be bubbly and crust golden
5. let the pie sit for 30 minutes on a cooling rack before serving