Quick and Easy “Key Lime” Pie

This recipe has no key limes in it. No limes of any kind, actually. Also no eggs, no real whipping cream, and no baking. Purists can stop reading right now. If Martha Stewart weren’t so busy with her own problems, she’d probably be horrified by the glaring inauthenticity of this recipe. But all the same, it’s sweet and it’s creamy; it’s a pretty tasty comfort food.

My mom got this recipe from a friend of my brother’s, who is twenty-something and single. (The friend, not my brother. He is late-twenty-something and engaged, but that’s a different writeup.) Anyway, when Michael makes this, he uses a fat-free graham cracker crust and fat-free (or reduced fat) cool whip and key lime yogurt. So it’s relatively healthy, if you’re concerned about such things.

You’ll need: 1 small (3 oz) package of lime Jell-O 8 oz cool whip (if you’re like me, this will be less the few tablespoons that you’ve eaten straight from the tub) 8 oz key lime yogurt (who knew they made such things? I need to get out more.) 1 ready-to-fill, store-bought, graham cracker crust

Mix the lime Jell-O with ¼ cup boiling water in a bowl. Once it is thoroughly dissolved, add the cool whip and mix (by hand) until blended. Dump in the yogurt. Stir. Spoon into the graham cracker crust. Put the pie in the refrigerator, uncovered, for about two hours, or until it sets. The last time my mom made this, it didn’t set, and she thinks that was because she covered it right away. Don’t let this happen to you, or else you won’t be able to serve the runny green glop to guests, and you’ll be forced to eat it all yourself. (Or maybe that was your diabolical plan all along…)

When I made it, I kept a few tablespoons of cool whip out, to spread on top of the pie, as faux meringue. It made the body of the pie, the “key lime” part, a bit less creamy and a bit more like the real consistency of key lime pie. Yum.

This recipe is fast and easy. A friend of mine has a plaque in her kitchen that says, “If we are what we eat, then I’m cheap and easy.” Words to live by. Oh, yeah.