Spirulina pie is definitely one of my favorite deserts. It tastes like green ice cream pie, with a nice dense crust underneath. Whenever you are having a dinner party, this is a nice way to end on a high note, and impress your friends! Plus you’ll be having the most nutritious desert in the world, since the algae spirulina is arguably (Dr. Gabriel Cousens would be on that team) the number one food in the world.
So this past Saturday night I had a little dinner party. I made this desert the morning of, so it could still freeze in time for dinner. I didn’t have cashews, which I usually use. But I did have tons of Brazil nuts. With this little modification in the recipe, the texture of the pie changed and came out better than ever! Such are the important subtleties of raw food ingredients and their properties. ☺ Maybe it has to do with the different fat in the Brazil nut- which is also really high in selenium- but the green ice cream part held together much nicer. The taste is pretty similar (which is yum). So below is my amended recipe. Oh yeah, I forgot to remind you that coconut oil stimulates your thyroid and metabolism, you will not gain weight from this- though it is will increase your beauty. Read on:
Spirulina: All the essential amino acids in correcte poportion, full of Vitamin B12, vitamins, glycolipis, 17 different beta-carotenoids, minerals (especially iron and magnesium), GLA, and over 2,000 enzymes. Unlike other algaes, spirulina’s cell walls have high concentrations of mucopolysachharids, which are easily digested and used to form protein and the building blocks of cell membranes. Also very alkalizing and healing. What an amazing anti-aging, beautifying food!!!
Another one of my favorite dessert recipes is my truffles recipe, yummy!
Enjoy!
Kimberly
Spirulina Pie Revisited
Ingredients
- Filling:
- - 3/4 cup water
- * 1/4 cup Brazil nuts
- * 1/4 cup coconut oil
- * 1/2 cup maple syrup
- * 2 Tbs. spirulina *** which you can buy at the health food market, Wholefoods or online.
- * 1 Tbs. pure cacao powder
- Crust:
- - 2 cups finely ground raw almonds
- - 1/3 cup pitted dates
Instructions
- To make the crust mix the ground almonds and pitted dates in a bowl. Press the mixture evenly into the bottom of a 5-inch pie tin.
- In a blender, combine the rest of the ingredients and blend until smooth. Pour this liquid mixture onto the pie crust and freeze overnight, or at least 4-6 hours before serving. Almost better than ice cream!
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was on Instagram!
Hi again, Thanks so much for answering my comment (1/2/09). SO I do have some questions about your raw food recipies and diet generally…one of my sons is highly allergic to nuts…do you know of a substitute food for some of the nuts in your recipies, and what would you recommend as an alternative protein source? Thanks again!
Hi Erica,
Is your son allergic to nuts AND seeds, or just nuts? If its just nuts, then he can still have yummy hemp seeds which pack 11 grams of protein in 3 Tbs. I put them on my salads, or you can put them in smoothies. They have a yummy taste. I also buy hemp seeds ground as hemp protein and use that in juices and smoothies as well (I wouldn’t ever touch highly processed, enzyme-deficient whey or soy protein powders).
Other great seeds are of course pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, etc.
When eaten in sufficient quantities, greens provide protein in simple, easily assimilated amino acid chains- rather than the complex ones that have to be broken down and re-assimilated. Gorillas, pound for the pound the strongest animal on earth, are vegetarian and survive off greens!
I know that children may be picky about greens though. Does your son like avocados? Below I attached a little insert for you from Living Foods website. They have plenty of easily usable protein as well.
Lastly, I recommend using nutritional yeast- or giving it a go. Please check out my “Feast on the Yeast” blog. Nutritional yeast is a primary yeast grown on molasses- NOT the kind of yeast we usually think of. It has an amazing nutty taste without being a nut! It packs in all the B vitamins, including that elusive Vitamin B12, and has a whopping 12 grams of protein in a serving. Again, I use it in smoothies, salads, and recipes. Maybe your son will like it!
I personally don’t use tofu or soy products. I don’t think too much soy is that good for you, but maybe sometimes he can try that as well.
There is a good book you should read- Eat to Live, by Dr. Joel Furhman. He has a lot of clinical info. on protein sources, the amounts we really need, etc. Okay Erica, hope some of these ideas help. Let me know how it goes!
Avocados are bursting with nutrients–vitamins, A, B-complex, C, E, H, K, and folic acid, plus the minerals magnesium, copper, iron, calcium, potassium and many other trace elements. Avocados provide all of the essential amino acids (those that must be provided by our diet), with 18 amino acids in all, plus 7 fatty acids, including Omega 3 and 6. Avocados contain more protein than cow’s milk, about 2% per edible portion. Since rapidly growing nursing infants obtain no more than 2% protein from mother’s milk, we can safely assume that children and adults do not regularly require foods richer in protein than avocado. Our bodies recycle approximately 80% of our protein; cooked protein is denatured and largely unusable, thus our protein need is far lower than what is taught by conventional dietetics. A small avocado will provide more usable protein then a huge steak because cooked protein in meat is deranged and mostly unavailable to our liver, the organ which makes all of our body’s protein. There is clear evidence from many sources that cooked fatty and high-protein foods are the prime culprit in our country’s high rate of cancer, as well as in colitis, Crohn’s disease and many other diseases. (I instantly healed up from a long illness, ulcerative colitis, seventeen years ago after I stopped eating meat and adopted a properly combined low-fat vegan diet of mostly raw fruits and vegetables, and I have since helped over 1,000 people recover from similar illnesses.) Ripe, raw organically grown avocados are naturally pure and furnish all of the elements we need to build the highest quality protein in our bodies.
Thanks! Coincidentally he had a huge avocado half last night!!!! It is one of his favorites (mine too!) I am lucky that he loves brocolli and spinach, but steamed – I think it is too hard for him to eat some raw vegetable (super crunchy ones especially, but we’ll work up to it.) Thanks for the book tip – I will get it. And thanks for the idea to try seeds!!! He is not allergic to seeds so I will try that. Thanks again for the BEST BLOG EVER!!! so informative and inspiring!!!
Hi Erica,
Yay!! That is excellent that your son likes avocados AND isn’t allergic to seeds!!! If he does end up liking the hemp seeds, which again, are so super packed with nutrition and protein, you can order them in bulk online. I generally order them 5 pounds at a time.
Thanks so much for all your kind words. Keep in touch and let me know how he and you both do with everything.
All my very, very best :)
Kimberly
Thank you!! One more question – when you discuss seeds, are always referring to raw seeds?
Hey Erica!
Ideally seeds would always be raw- sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, etc. Try to always avoid roasted and salted varieties. By the way- hemp seeds are usually from Canada and are a totally different variety of hemp than the kind that come with THC. :) And remember that flax seeds should always be ground up for better digestion- I use a coffee grinder or my vitamix.
Well, take care Erica!
All my very best to you and your family, Kimberly
Ola,
How should we use ground falxseeds? Can we add them in smoothies too? Baking them in breads would kill them i think.
Hi Rimi,
You can put ground flaxseeds in smoothies, and that would be great! xx Kimberly
Hi Kim,
I have chlorella powder. it that OK to use as a sub? will my recipe taste the same, or should i use a smaller amount?
Hope to hear your advise…
thanks! :)
This dessert is so delicious and satisfying! I was wondering how many servings is this recipe supposed to make?
Thanks!
Hi Kim, I made this and am so in love! Thank you for alerting me about the benefits of spirulina- it will be something I keep in my diet from now on. I have a few questions though:
-I noticed that the spirulina at Trader Joe’s is a lot cheaper than what I bought from a health food store- do you think some kinds of spirulina powders are diluted or just not as pure? If so, what brands of powder do you recommend?
-I have been small slices of your pie at a time, and even though it’s delicious, I feel slightly nauseous afterwards. Do you think this is because there are so many different fats (even though they’re good fats) concentrated in it? I know nuts can often cause nausea…
Also, what is your opinion on aloe vera juice? Some people say it’s absolutely magical…but just like spirulina, there are so many brands out there, it’s kind of hard to know which ones have the true integrity of aloe vera.
Thanks!! I ordered your book online, it should be coming soon (it was literally sold out in most of the Barnes and Nobles that I checked around LA!)
Hi Kristie, yes it is still concentrated, and spirulina has a lot of detoxifying properties. That plus the raw nuts can make you feel that way. You are right to eat small amounts. Aloe vera can be very soothing to the digestive tract. Find the brand that works for you- as there may be good local sources and ones that others don’t have access to . xx
Wonderful facts that you’ve given me personally on this page. I’ll look ahead to your current subsequently article.
I have chlorella powder too! …. is it OK to use as a sub? will the recipe taste the same, or should i use a smaller amount?
Any tips or ideas would be fantastical :)
Thanks for everything you do to help us all feel our best and in advance for the answers to our questions.
kim, you really need to make an entire cookbook filled with ALL of your recipes, i would buy it in a second :)
Hi Kim,
Should I soak the brazil nuts before blending them?
This sounds delicious by the way!
Dear Kimberly,
I would love to try this recipe and I’m wondering what are the best nuts substitute for Brazil nuts. My partner is deadly allergic to these so it’s a big NO-NO in the home. He has some intolerance to other nuts (e.g., pecans, walnuts) and therefore I use them only for recipes that he isn’t interested in in the first place, which would be the case for a spirulina pie. I was thinking of replacing the brazil nuts with either hazelnuts or almonds. What are your thoughts?
Best,
Emilie
I’m a little confused about the flaxseed. (mentioned in an above comment.) you said they could go in smoothies, but i thought you always say no nuts/seeds with fruit? and are dates ok to eat mixed up with the nuts and other things in this recipe because they are dried and have low water content? Thank you. :)
Hi Kimberley, I wanted to start using spirulina but discovered this is not recommended for people with autoimmune diseases. I have both hypothyroidism and vitiligo. What is your take on this? Thanks!
Best regards Carla