Delicious Chia Coconut Pudding – Raw Chia seeds can be added to salads, cereals, you name it. Be sure to floss! Originally from Mexico and Central America, Chia seeds were an important food source to the Maya, and to all the rest of us ever since.
A 2-tablespoon, (1-ounce) serving contains:
- 138 calories
- 9 grams of fat
- 10 grams of fiber
- 5 grams of protein
- 18 percent of the daily value for calcium
- 4,500 milligrams of alpha-linolenic acid omega-3s per ounce – that’s more than flaxseed.
Vegans can use Chia Seeds can use as an egg substitute. When a chia seed gets wet, a gel forms around it, with the liquid viscosity of an egg white. You could also compare them to tapioca pearls or well… frog eggs. No really the little round gel with a black dot of tadpole in the middle? Anyway, one of our favorite current recipes is a Chia Pudding, great as part of breakfast, an afternoon snack, even a dessert! and it takes just seconds to make!
We use full fat (not Lite) coconut milk, which really adds to the richness of the pudding, mixed in equal parts with any other kind of non-dairy or dairy cream or milk. Because there are so many different types of milks to chose from today, the amount of chia necessary to achieve a nice, thick, pudding like consistency will vary. You may have to experiment a bit at first to find the right proportions for your particular liquid combination.
One rule of thumb is to start with a half cup of each milk in a bowl, combined with 2 tablespoon of Chia seeds. Stir thoroughly, preferably with a whisk. Careful,…the seeds will clump together if you don’t get them mixed properly. It can be a good idea to check the mix every half hour at first to keep the seeds suspended and let them all settle on the bottom. Store in the fridge overnight.
Other than the fairly mild flavor from the coconut and other milk, the pudding itself is rather bland, which means you can make it about any flavor, from a plain vanilla, to chocolate.
During a trip to Mexico, we had a bowl each morning mixed with fresh fruits such as pineapple, banana, and mango, one of the super nice things about visiting the tropics!
In my research, I read that people who are allergic to mustard, sesame seeds, oregano or thyme may also react to chia. I also read that people taking blood thinners or other heart medications should check with a doctors before eating chia seeds.