Chia Pudding with Banana and Blueberries - A Boost for the Day

My mornings are busy and hectic and easily sucking all the energy for the rest of the day. Besides the classical coffee, I need a lot of good and healthy food to load my energy reserves to last until late in the night - and maybe over midnight too.

A couple of years ago, I discovered the strength of chia seeds. Those small poppy-like dots, doubling their size if left in water at least for 15 minutes, are strong enough to keep me energized for a very long time. The chia-based recipes are easy to prepare and a good breakfast opening for busy people, with a complex agenda ahead for the coming hours.

This pudding was the result of some creative brain-storming. As usual, was out of time and with a couple of ingredients in my fridge, so tried to combine them in a smart way for delicious results.

Here is the recipe:

Ingredients

2 teaspoons of chia seeds

1/2 cup of cold milk - you can also add other milk-substitute 'milks' or just water

1 medium sized banana, smashed in the blender at medium speed for 2 minutes

100 gr. fresh blueberries

Directions

Smash the banana in the blender. Add the milk, chia seeds, smashed banana and the blueberries. Leave it in the fridge for at least 20 minutes. If you want to have your pudding breakfast ready in time, you can store it in the fridge overnight. The seeds will grow even bigger and the all ingredients will bond together perfectly.

Preparation time: 5 minutes

Serves: 1

Getting used with Chia. One seed at a time

I am not a fashionable person when it comes to foods and I prefer to wait till testing foods or recipes or food trends everyone is recommending. I had and still have my own reserves regarding quinoa - not tasty enough for my preferences - and had some time till I decided to test some chia-based recipes. 

Compared to quinoa, chia is even more difficult to match because it has no taste at all. So, why to pay a lot of money - everywhere the seeds are very expensive and are mostly available at the bio/organic shops - when you cannot get any specific experience? This was the question that kept me quite a long time away from it. 

My first experience with chia was in the form of a coconut blueberry pudding at the Einstein Coffee. Served cold, the black chia bubbles were just part of the decorations, but I love the coconut milk so was not worried about wasting my money. Later on, I decided to try myself through a couple of recipes. 

The tiny tasteless seeds are rich in protein, fiber, calcium, zinc, magnesium, omega-3, B1, B2, phosphors. Quite an impressive line of vitamins. Add to the list the anti-oxidants, with significant anti-aging contribution.

Their preparation is easy. Soak them in cold water twice the quantity of the seeds and wait between 2 and 10 hours. They expand multiple times in size and gives you a feeling of fullness when eaten in various combinations. Till now, I used two tablespoons of chia and 1 cup water, and kept them together for around 2 hours. 

You cannot eat them raw - or you can, but doesn't make too much sense - but in combination to smoothies or puddings. Some may even sprinkle it on some rice dishes. Another idea is to ground them in the machine and use as a powder basis only. This variant I haven't tested yet.

Chia - the Maya word for strength - is recommended as part of various diets as it delivers a massive amount of nutrients with only few calories. Easy to incorporate in any kind of diets, it is considers also as a factor of improving blood markers, decreasing the risk of heart diseases and of the type 2 diabetes, improving the digestive health and possibly fighting against breast and cervical cancer. The combination between Calcium, Phosphorus and Vitamin A contributes to maintaining the dental health. It is compared to sport drinks, as it improve the exercise performance. Sometimes, the energy boost is too much, as it happened when I finished one of the coconut milk puddings in the evening and cut my appetite for sleep - already limited - considerably. 

Recipes

In both cases I used 2 tablespoons of chia - around 140 calories - with 1 cup of water for preparing the seeds. Let to soak for around 2 hours.I added fresh blueberries and slices of bananas, plus 200 ml. coconut milk. Left in the fridge for around 2 hours and served it as breakfast treat. It serves three.

For diversity, the next time I also added some raspberries and was even happier with the result. Some other ideas will be to add some dried apricots, dates, pineapple. Right now, I am thinking about a simple banana coconut pudding. I haven't feel the need to add any sugar, as the fruits do have enough natural sweetness already. 

As for now, I will probably keep trying more recipes. If you keep the seeds in a dry cool place, the long shelf life is guaranteed so I don't have to worry about wasting the money.