Vanilla chia pudding

Superfood chia provides a good midday snack. When soaked overnight, the seeds take on a creamy, tapioca pudding quality.

|
Whipped, The Blog
Mix chia seeds with almond milk and soak over night. Then add fresh berries or toasted coconut for midday treat.

Chia pudding has become one of my go-to snacks. I make a batch at the beginning of the week and leave it in the fridge, spooning single servings into plastic containers for lunchboxes or snacks.

When kale first became “trendy” I ate it just because of its health properties. Over time, I grew to truly love the tough, leafy greens and haven’t left it behind though I know it reached and passed its peak on the food-trend curve. Quinoa was another food that turned up on pages of all of the food magazines, began to line everyday grocery shelves and even earned devoted cookbooks worshipping its powers. Though I still eat quinoa now and then, I truthfully never really loved it.
 

Chia is following kale’s path in my repertoire of superfoods. Though they are the latest darling of the food world, their nutrient-rich qualities make them worth the hype! Loaded with antioxidants and rich in protein and fiber, I find that chia fills me up and boosts my energy as a midday snack. When soaked overnight, the seeds become tapioca-like, turning the milk into creamy pudding. Truly, this recipe is a health food disguised as a treat!

We experiment with different toppings or simply eat the pudding alone. Fresh blueberries with toasted coconut is a household favorite. You can substitute different milks – I like unsweetened vanilla almond milk for its fragrant flavor and low calories. For those who are vegan, this fits the bill.

Vanilla Chia Pudding
 Yields 4 snack size servings

2 cups unsweetened vanilla almond milk
 1/2 cup chia seeds
 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
 1 tablespoon agave nectar or honey (add a second tablespoon if you like it sweeter)

1. Stir together all ingredients.

2. Leave in the refrigerator overnight. Stir and serve plain or topped with fresh fruit, dried fruit or toasted coconut. It lasts in the refrigerator for at least 4 days. If it becomes thicker than you like, just stir in some additional milk.

Related post on Whipped, The Blog: Rhubarb maple crisp

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

QR Code to Vanilla chia pudding
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/The-Culture/Food/Stir-It-Up/2015/0706/Vanilla-chia-pudding
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe