I’ve got a great summer recipe for you. And it’s bursting with goodness. It’s delicious and your friends will love it. Don’t be put off by using avocados in a key lime pie. It’s perfect and you won’t taste them.

The avocado or  avocado pear is an evergreen tree in the laurel family. It is native to the Americas and was first domesticated in Mesoamerica more than 5,000 years ago. It’s full of fibre, potassium, folate, vitamin K, vitamin E, magnesium. It’s a great antioxidant. It has beta carotene — an antioxidant found to be protective against heart disease, and lutein and zeaxanthin, important for maintaining eye health and lowering risk of macular degeneration.

So, knowing it’s full of good fat and so many health benefits, treat yourself to a delicious and easy-to-make key lime pie this weekend.

And, of course, a good book.

Key Lime Pie

Crust

• 1 cup nuts – almonds, or pecans or cashews, soaked in hot water for an hour then drained
• ¾ cup pitted dates
• Pinch salt
• Splash of water to help blend – if needed

Or for the traditional buttery biscuit base with no nuts and dates:

• Half a cup of vegan butter
• ¾ of a packet of Biscoff biscuits. Or Oreos. Or ginger nuts.

Filling

• 3 or 4 medium ripe avocados. Don’t use brown ones or you’ll get a brown pie.
• Cup cashew nuts soaked for an hour in hot water then drained.
• ½ cup maple or agave syrup
• ⅓ cup fresh lime juice – from about 2 large limes
• 1 teaspoon good vanilla extract
• Tin of coconut cream without the watery bit – save that back for a veggie curry
• Lime zest for garnishing

To prepare:

• Make the crust. Either blitz the nuts and dates, add a wee bit of water if it’s too thick, then press the mixture into a 9-inch Springform tin or
• Melt the butter and add to the blitzed Biscoff biscuits. Mix. Press that little lot into the springform tin instead.
• Put the base in the fridge for an hour.
• Make the pie by putting all the ingredients except the zest in a food processor and blitzing, scraping down the sides of the mixer and going again until it’s smooth.
• Pour the gorgeous lime coloured mixture on top of the base.
• Freeze it for a couple of hours. Pop it in the fridge for 20 minutes, top with the zest and serve.

A Margarita goes well with this.

You’ll need 50ml tequila, 25 ml triple sec, 25 ml lime juice and a cocktail shaker.

Fill a cocktail shaker with ice, then add the tequila, lime juice and triple sec. Shake until the outside of the shaker feels cold.

Serve with a wedge of lime. Serves one.