‘A friend once told me it looks like frog sperm. Do as I did and ignore him and enjoy this pudding for what it is…’
I’m always the last on a trend and I’m not ashamed of this. I’m always sceptical, always rolling my eyes and always furious with hipster trends. When I first heard of Chia Seed Puddings I was like ‘Nope. That is hipster nonsense and I want nothing to do with it’. But remember when I did a chia coated fish? Well, I had half a pack of chia seeds in my pantry that were bullying me and I thought, why not.
They’re fantastic and I’m mortified.
So basically a Chia Seed Pudding is like a slightly sloppy rice pudding? Have I sold that to you? Probably not, so let me try again. A Chia Seed Pudding is the perfect breakfast when you want something delicious and leaves you full until lunch. Is that better?
Basically I started looking into the real properties of chia seeds and was really impressed. They slowly release energy, which let’s be honest we’re all looking for in our working days. They contain fantastic levels of fibre, protein, calcium, magnesium, and all the other vitamin nonsense we want in our bodies so they are in fact one of the most useful sources of several nutrients that are body needs. Not wants, but needs.
My favourite part? Chia seeds absorb a huge amount of water so when they hit your stomach, they expand. So this basically fills you up so you’re not getting those dreaded 11am munchies.
This by the way is not just a stupid theory on Twitter or Buzzfeed. I can honestly tell you that every morning when I have a Chia Seed Pudding, I do not feel hungry until lunch, and I had a delicious breakfast to boost. It’s a win-win. The only reason I feel like I am preaching the benefits of a Chia Seed Pudding to you is because I was quick to write them off as some mythical seed of hipster descent but I can honestly tell you, they are delicious.
Grab an empty jam jar of closable cup of some description. Add to this a cup of milk – I use semi-skimmed but if you want to use skimmed, go nuts. It’s also great with sweetened almond milk, but let’s not be too hipster about it all. Let’s reserve some kind of humanity.
To this add 3 tbs of chia seeds. Now add a ¼ tbs of cinnamon and ¼ tbs of coco powder. To this, either add a small drop of almond flavouring or pour in a small amount of vanilla extract. This is just to perfume the milk so that you have a nice background to the bits were adding later. Close the jar or cup and give it a good shake. Shake the jar 3 or 4 times over the next half an hour before putting in the fridge overnight.
In the morning, the seeds would’ve soaked up the milk and become full, juicy seeds that have a spoon inviting pudding texture. Add a handful of blueberries and some flaked almonds to the jam and give another shake. I then take this into work and eat at my desk – but a few times I’ve had no self-restraint and have drunk it like a milkshake on the commute into work. For shame.
It really is delicious. Yes, slightly odd to look at and a friend once told me it looks like frog sperm. Do as I did and ignore him and enjoy this pudding for what it is – a beautiful, sweet and fragrant breakfast pudding with a whole Santa’s list of health benefits not just a hipster band wagon to jump on to.
And the jam jar is purely because I needed a receptacle that came with a lid, I promise.
MIKEY AND THE KITCHEN. 