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Chia Seed Pudding
Feb. 23rd, 2018 08:48 pmIt's been a while since I experimented with something new in the kitchen and as always, curiosity is the mother of necessity. I wanted to know how I could add more protein to my breakfast without adding eggs and found an intriguing vegetarian example - chia seeds. Now, I’m not the most granola person out there, so when recipes for "chia seed pudding" popped up online, I was skeptical. I am all too wary of things that are supposed to be other things - tofu chicken nuggets, cauliflower rice and vegan butter - that never quite live up to what the mind imagines. It would be more honest if these things were labelled tofu nuggets, shredded cauliflower or vegan spread.
Chia seed pudding isn't true pudding. What happens is that these itty bitty little seeds - a small bag will last you forever - easily absorb three or four times their size in liquid and make a gelatinous goo. This is why pudding recipes suggest leaving it overnight in the fridge. A rule of thumb seems to be a 1:2 ratio. You can add fruit, nuts and other toppings as well. I put 30ml of seeds in a mason jar and filled it with half a cup of milk and half a cup of water just to be on the safe side, plush a splash of vanilla for flavour.
When I checked the jar in the morning, the weirdest sight appeared - the seeds were suspended in a light brown gel (from the vanilla), all neatly spaced by the what had been absorbed. It looked...otherworldly to say the least. I spooned some into a cup and it was all very bland, but not much more so than plain oatmeal. The vanilla was old and probably mostly alcohol, so I think that's why it looked and acted the way it did. The pudding adhered to itself so well that no residue remained inside the cup!
My second try at it was too liquidy and it resulted in a weird, Orbitz like beverage. I gulped it down and tried a third time, which got me closer to where it should be. Not perfect, but not goopily strange like the first try. I won't say it's super filling or anything and you may want to take it easy at first in case you discover that it gives you a laxative effect - these little seeds pack a lot of fibre!
Chia seed pudding isn't true pudding. What happens is that these itty bitty little seeds - a small bag will last you forever - easily absorb three or four times their size in liquid and make a gelatinous goo. This is why pudding recipes suggest leaving it overnight in the fridge. A rule of thumb seems to be a 1:2 ratio. You can add fruit, nuts and other toppings as well. I put 30ml of seeds in a mason jar and filled it with half a cup of milk and half a cup of water just to be on the safe side, plush a splash of vanilla for flavour.
When I checked the jar in the morning, the weirdest sight appeared - the seeds were suspended in a light brown gel (from the vanilla), all neatly spaced by the what had been absorbed. It looked...otherworldly to say the least. I spooned some into a cup and it was all very bland, but not much more so than plain oatmeal. The vanilla was old and probably mostly alcohol, so I think that's why it looked and acted the way it did. The pudding adhered to itself so well that no residue remained inside the cup!
My second try at it was too liquidy and it resulted in a weird, Orbitz like beverage. I gulped it down and tried a third time, which got me closer to where it should be. Not perfect, but not goopily strange like the first try. I won't say it's super filling or anything and you may want to take it easy at first in case you discover that it gives you a laxative effect - these little seeds pack a lot of fibre!
