The last time we had rhubarb, Michael asked, “Are you gonna make a pie?”. I thought I might, at the time but then, it was so hot, and I was baking other things, and then ….I turned it into a smoothie. Which, for the record was very, very good.

Another CSA trip and we ended up with 1 pint of strawberries and 1 pound of rhubarb. And pie, it was.

Several times last night, Michael declared this “the best pie you ever made”. I think it’s as good as the french silk pie I made over the winter, which was so dangerous to have around (even I, the queen of self-control was about to eat all of it myself) that I sent Michael off to work with it the next day. It’s good to share calories with other people. Espescially boys with fast metabolism.

This one I’m keeping for us. Dangerous pie be damned.

I was looking on Foodgawker for a recipe I wanted to use, and I came across this, and adapted slightly.

First, make the pie crust. (And set the oven on 400 while you’re at it).

1 stick of butter, cut into small pieces.

1 cup flour

2 tbsp sugar

1/4 tsp salt

3 tbsp ice water

Place all ingredients into processor or stand mixer. (I went with stand mixer here because I couldn’t handle any more equipment on my counter!) Blend until the butter looks like tiny pea-sized sand bits. Smoosh dough together until it forms a ball (the butter will suddenly help it stick) and transfer to a bowl and put it in the fridge while you work on the rest.

Next, make the filling:

1 pint strawberries, hulled and cut in half

1 pound rhubard (6 stalks, cut into 1″ pieces)

2/3 cup sugar

3 tbsp flour

Mix filling together and let it rest while you make the topping.

Finally, make the crumb topping.

1 cup flour

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 stick of butter, cut into small pieces

Combine everything and use a pastry cutter or place in a food processor or stand mixer. You want the butter to once again be cut into small pieces, with the mixture resembling wet sand.

Assembly:

Take the dough out of the fridge and roll on a floured surface. You want to do this quickly as the butter starts to melt in a hot kitchen. Transfer dough to pie dish. Fill with filling and top with crumb topping. Bake for about 50 minutes with a large baking sheet under the pie dish to catch any juice that might run over.

I served this with fresh whipped cream (whipping cream, confectioner’s sugar).

A little love note on this pie: one of the fastest I’ve ever make and best tasting too.

Along with some of our early CSA deliveries, we got rhubarb. My first thought was a classic one: pie. But I have to be honest: the idea of warm pie in this weather was kind of making me feel ill. I was craving something cool and definitely anything that wasn’t pie.

I came across a recipe for a strawberry rhubarb pie smoothie, and that was it for me! I did a little Nicole-style dismantling of the recipe and I thought it was really wonderful. From a nutritional perspective, this is actually fairly low in calories (I could do the math for you later), low on the glycemic index and tastes sinful. You won’t regret making this, I promise. (Side note #1 about the photos: rhubarb is not photogenic. I tied a bow to it, to sort of pretty it up. Just for you.)

Here’s what you do:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2 large stalks of rhubarb, cut into one inch pieces

1 tbsp honey

1/3 cup Riesling (I used Pacific Rim Organic, which is my hands-down favorite)

1 vanilla bean scraped

13 strawberries, hulled

1/4 cup almond milk

juice of 1/2 a lemon

1/4 cup oats

1 tbsp almond meal

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp maple syrup

2 tsp powdered sugar

Combine the first 4 ingredients and place into a glass dish. Cook for 15 minutes. The rhubarb will be very soft. Let cool. While rhubarb is cooking, combine remaining ingredients and let sit, so the oats have time to soften (makes for easier digestion). When rhubarb and wine mixture is cool, combine with strawberry and oats mixture and blend until smooth. I just plunked all of mine in my Magic Bullet and it all fit (I kind of thought it might not, but it’s very spacious). Makes 2 servings, if you can bear to share it.