One of my favorite things about eating raw foods is that often dessert and breakfast can be the same meal! Who doesn’t want a chocolatey raw cacao and banana smoothie, or banana soft serve with fruit and coconut cream for breakfast. In this instance, I made a sweet and fruity tropical coconut & passionfruit chia pudding for breakfast; but I could easily enjoy it as a healthy, sweet dessert too.
If you aren’t familiar with chia seeds, they are superfood seeds packed with goodness. They contain tons of soluble and insoluble fiber – great for digestion and they have more omega 3’s than salmon. They contain many minerals such as iron, potassium, and calcium and are very high in antioxidants. They’re also gluten-free.
I use chia seeds almost every day:
– I like to add a tablespoon to my daily smoothies for a boost of energy and nutrients.
– I also sprinkle it onto my oatmeal.
– I make “agua fresca” with it. To do this, you simply add chia seeds to a pitcher of water and fill it with fresh fruits and a bit of sweetness. I like to use lime juice and honey and give the mix a very quick blend in the vita-mix. Adding a few drops of liquid chlorophyll is a great idea to boost health too, and we called this “swamp water” at my last job. (Note: keep the vitamix on the lowest setting possible or the chia seeds will be crushed.)
– I use chia seeds to replace eggs with them. If you take 1 tbsp of chia seeds, and stir them into 3 – 4 tbsp of water and let the mixture sit for 5 – 10 minutes, you will notice it thickens a ton and becomes a gel. This can act as a binding agent instead of eggs in almost all recipes.
– I make chia pudding for breakfast or dessert.
Chia pudding can be so versatile and you can really mix in whatever flavor you like. I always add a bit of sweetness, whether it be through xylitol, stevia, maple syrup, or honey. For this particular recipe, I used tropical fruits like coconut and passionfruit, along with vanilla powder for a healthy, filling breakfast.
Coconut and Passion Fruit Chia Pudding [Vegan]
This content was originally published here.
