Glistening Sheen: Recipe: Coconut & Mint Chia Seed Pudding

Good Day Everyone,

If you've ever read my Super Seeds blog post then you'll know that I'm a big fan of incorporating seeds into my diet. Chia seeds were a relatively recent addition, but they've quickly become one of my favourite seeds to eat. They're high in fiber, protein and anti-inflammatory omega-3s which is great for someone like me who suffers from arthritis, an inflammatory disease. I typically use chia seeds in my home made granola (you can find the recipe here), sprinkled on salads and I even eat them neat on their own.

More recently, after seeing many beautiful photos on Instagram, I've started to make chia seed puddings. A quick search on Google brought up numerous recipes and I soon realised that there is no right or wrong way to make chia seed pudding. It all comes down to personal preference. Chia seeds don't have a particularly strong flavour of their own which means that they will take on the flavour of whatever liquid you mix them with. When immersed in a liquid, these tiny super seeds will soften as they expand up to nine times their original size, which makes them incredibly filling whilst being low in calories. Upon expanding they form a cross between a gelatinous and mousse like texture. I've seen different ratios of chia seeds to liquid in recipes online, and I think through experimentation, I'll find a ratio that suits my taste. The less liquid there is the less the chia seeds will expand, but ultimately I don't worry too much about my measurements being exact....that's my kind of recipe ;o)

The great thing about chia seed puddings is that they can be flavoured and decorated in sooo many different ways that for a colour loving freak like me, the possibilities are endless! These puddings can also be made ahead of time and kept in the refrigerator which makes them ideal for those of us that are pushed for time. They can be eaten for breakfast, as a snack and even dessert.

Below is a recipe for some coconut and mint chia seed puddings that I made recently.

Ingredients:

1 cup of coconut milk
1/3 cup of chia seeds
2 teaspoons of honey
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla essence
A large handful of fresh mint leaves
Fresh fruit and shredded coconut, as desired

Instructions:

I mixed the coconut milk, honey and vanilla essence in a large bowl.
To the mixture above, I added the mint leaves, finely chopped (I used a hand blender to blitz them) and kept a few sprigs back to decorate with.
I then added the chia seeds to the mixture, mixed it all together and left the mixture to sit in the refrigerator for 30mins in the large bowl so that the chia seeds can expand.
After 30mins, I took the chia seed pudding mixture out of the refrigerator and poured it into two glasses and glass ramekins, and layered and decorated the pudding with fresh fruit, mint sprigs and toasted shredded coconut, as seen in the photos. I made sure not to fill the glasses and ramekins right to the brim, just in case the chia seeds expanded further.
I then covered the puddings with clingfilm and popped them back into the refrigerator for at least 2 hours to set and expand further.

The end result was a delicious, creamy, pretty looking dessert that I'd be happy to serve to dinner guests, and best of all it's easy to make and requires minimal preparation.

Next time, I would make a few changes to this recipe. I would add about half a cup of either coconut water or pineapple juice as I felt that the chia seeds could've absorbed a bit more liquid. Also using only coconut cream might be a bit too rich and heavy for some people. In terms of liquid, you could replace the coconut milk with almond milk, different fruit juices and even mix in some fresh fruit puree.

I would also experiment with different natural sweeteners and even spices such as cinnamon. Being a chocoholic, my hubby's request is for me to make a chocolate version of this pudding.The possibilities really are endless ;o)