Raw Strawberry Pie

I've seen recipes for raw fruit pies before and have been verrrrrrry curious. To me, the raw food thing is the way to go. After reading, The Good Life by Helen and Scott Nearing, I'm even more convinced. (I believe everyone should read that book.) It just makes sense to keep foods whole and natural. Over processing and cooking more than light heat or steam just drain the nutrients out of our food. Besides, less prep in the kitchen is always a good thing, right? So, when I saw two recipes in the same day for raw strawberry pie, I decided to be adventurous! Since we didn't have as many strawberries as I thought we did, I supplemented with some sweet cherries. You could really play around with this recipe. Hope you'll try a raw fruit pie this summer.

The Ingredients:
2 lbs. fresh strawberries, tops removed, quartered
1 tbsp. fresh lemon juice (about ½ of a lemon)
1/2 cup dark-brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
½ cup brown sugar
2 cups raw almonds ***You could use 1 cup walnuts instead of 2 cups almonds for a combo.
1 ¾ cups pitted dates
**Optional: Cut some of the sugar and stir in some REAL maple syrup.

In a bowl, combine strawberries, lemon juice, vanilla and brown sugar. Mix well, and let sit while you make the crust. Place almonds in a blender or food processor and pulse on high until they resemble bread crumbs, about 1 minute. Empty into an oiled 9" pie plate. Put dates in blender with 1 tsp of water and pulse on high until well chopped, about 30 seconds (it's okay if they're a little clumpy). Combine almonds and dates until they hold together, then press evenly onto bottom and sides of pie plate to form crust. Using your hands or a slotted spoon, pile berries into the crust, discarding any remaining liquid. Refrigerate for 2 hours and serve.

***The other raw pie recipe I found used the same crust as above but the filling was just the strawberries tossed with maple syrup and chilled. Good and easy!