Fifty Second Friday: Cocktail Kiwi Pie

Happy belated Food Day! Yes, the U.S. National Food Day is officially on October 24th. I won't go into the detail, and if you really want to know about the event here in DC, check out my blog post for work. Essentially, though, this celebration is attempting to providing a coalescing point for all of the disjointed "food movement" activities so that it can more water in terms of shifting a food system. Different aspects of a new food system are important to various people - emphasis on health, or no pesticides, or less meat - but one of the rapidly growing subsets of foodies (not in a negative sense, but just those concerned with food and agriculture) is the local and seasonal cohort.

As I am a big proponent of locality and seasonality, you can imagine how ecstatic I was to find kiwis growing within easy distance of my home-base farmers market! Now these are not your typical grocery store kiwi, the Actinidia deliciosa, but rather the hardy kiwi (A. arugata). Also know as the baby kiwi, kiwi berry, or cocktail kiwi (oooh, now that's an idea!), the arugata is capable of surviving temperatures well below freezing. While the grape-sized fruits rival its better know cousin for flavor, this rapid-growing vine has become an invasive weed in parts of the northeastern United States.

Still, I was super excited them at the market on Sunday. However, after eating a good handful of them, I had plenty more and not an idea of what to do with them. After toying with a few ideas, in typical Rachel fashion I turned to the pie. And of course, being only one person, I opted for a mini tart pan. So this recipe is optimal for 2 people.

Cocktail Kiwi Pie (vg, gf)

crust

1/3-1/2 cup buckwheat flour

1/3 cup almond meal

2 tbs arrowroot or tapioca starch

1 tbs agave nectar

1 tbs tahini

1 tbs coconut oil

1-2 tbs almond milk

1. Combine all crust ingredients. Adjust proportions of flour and milk to obtain a not-so-sticky dough ball. Press into small tart pan.

2. Place into a preheating 350F oven while you mix the filling.

filling

1/2 medium ripe banana

10 baby cocktail kiwis, very ripe

1 tbs arrowroot

1. Skin kiwis (they should be ripe enough to just squirt out the insides). Mash with a form or hand blender along with banana and arrowroot.

2. Fill partially baked shell. Place in oven for about 20 minutes until crust starts to brown. Remove and let cool. Then refrigerate at least an hour, but preferably overnight. Serve cold!

Check out more fun recipes on Wellness Weekends!