Chia seeds didn’t start being used in Europe until 1997, so they still seem like an oddity to many of us, although in their native places, Central and South America, they were known and commonly consumed before the 16th century. Europeans are still leery of these small, slippery, hygrophobic seeds (they can absorb up to 12 times their amount in liquid), but if they knew their beneficial properties, they might give them more importance. 100 grams of seeds contain 17 grams of protein, 31 grams of fat, mostly unsaturated (that is, the good one), 42 grams of carbohydrates (also the good ones), plus (very important) 63% of the recommended daily amount of Calcium, 59% Iron, 94% Magnesium, 130% Manganese, 48% Zinc. It still has a little Potassium, only 9%, and a lot of Phosphorus, 123%, but that’s it, nothing is perfect in this world.
So if you don’t eat dairy and you’re worried that you’re not getting enough Calcium and Magnesium, a tablespoon of chia seeds solves the problem. How to eat them? These little ones are very versatile, they can be used both in something sweet and in dishes that you would never think of: I put them in meatballs, in bread, I make caviar from them, they can even be put in smoothies. They are some wonderful seeds. Now I show you how to make a simple shy and trembling pudding from it.
Ingredients:
- 20 grams of chia seeds
- 50 grams of fat coconut milk, coconut cream or other vegetable milk of your choice
- 70 grams of water, if you used fat milk or coconut cream, or if you put vegetable milk, put 120 grams of it directly
- 10 grams of honey, about a spoon
At your choice, put what you like or what you have in the pantry: I put, for example, a teaspoon of cappuccino powder, a few drops of rum essence and the contents of 3 walnuts. It is not recommended, but we can also drop a few pieces of sweet fruits or citrus: mango, kaki, mandarins, bananas, etc.
Method of preparation
First we weigh the liquid and the seeds. We mix them together with honey. We do not exaggerate the quantities, the ones I have shown above are enough, they have around 300 kcal, with a margin of rigor depending on the milk used. After we populate the pudding with other goodies, i.e. nuts, fruits and whatever comes to our mind, we will easily exceed 400 kcal. If you are 1 meter and a stripe, like me, this means a sufficient meal, if nature has gifted you with several centimeters, it is still a filling snack. So we put 20 grams of chia and 120 grams of vegetable milk. It may seem a little, but you will notice that in half an hour, an hour, the seeds will swell well and triple their volume, the liquid will disappear, and the pudding will look like jelly. Now add the rest of the ingredients, mix well and that’s it. It can be used as a dessert, but carefully, because I told you that it is very caloric, or better as a snack, during the break from work, we put it elegantly in the purse, next to a teaspoon, packed in a beautiful casserole. It can also be a dinner, if we overdid it with lunch.