My favorite part of the summer months is the array of ripe fruits in season. I grew up with a father who would give my brother and I fresh English peas as ‘presents.’ So it’s no surprise that he would celebrate our birthday months with the exotic fruits that came with them, pomegranates in October and cherries in May. Come my brother’s birthday, all I can think about is biting into a crisp, dark Bing cherry. However, these antioxidant packed bites of delight are unbearably expensive until the end of June.

Welcome to cherry season! With an abundance of the super fruit, why not make a pie out of them? I’m talking fresh cherries, not frozen!

I found this great recipe on Self.com that combines cherries with potassium packed pistachios. This colorful nut may help lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol which aids in weight loss and increases your chi.

Ingredients

Unsalted butter (to grease pan)

5 cups pitted cherries

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

½ cup plus 1 tbsp all-purpose flour, divided

1/2 cup shelled, unsalted pistachios

1/3 cup rolled oats

4 walnuts, shelled

1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom

1/4 teaspoon salt

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 9” pie pan.
2. In the pan, mix cherries with juice, 1 tbsp sugar and 1 tbsp flour.
3. Then, mix ½ cup sugar, 1/3 cup flour, pistachios, oats, walnuts, cardamom, and salt in a food processor until nuts are finely chopped. Or for about 1 to 2 minutes.
4. Mix in butter and then sprinkle the toppings over the cherries.
5. Bake until the juices are thickly bubbling and the topping is browned, about 25 minutes.
6. Enjoy at room temperature or warm!