Another warm-weather treat the kids adore is chia seed pudding. We’ve touched on the health benefits of chia seeds, which include being a great source of EFA’s (essential fatty acids like omega-3), fiber and protein, on top of loads of nutrients and antioxidants. We make the almond milk ahead of time, usually for another purpose, and keep it in the fridge, so we can have this delicious cold treat. One that they have made in the past for themselves.
Chia Seed Pudding
2 cups almond milk
2 Tablespoons chia seeds
berries to taste
Pour nut or seed milk into a bowl, add chia and stir. Let this mixture sit for 20 minutes, stirring periodically. Sweeten if the milk wasn’t, and top with berries, crunchies, etc.
The kids love this and made it twice last week. We add perhaps an extra tablespoon or two, so that the pudding is very thick. We add chopped frozen fruit to the pudding, but you could blend berries, fruit, cacao, maca, vanilla, or other flavorings with the milk before adding the chia seeds. If you add goji berries, they will plump up nicely if you leave them in the pudding for a day or so, softening up nicely.
Have you tried chia pudding? How do you like to flavor it? Do you like it thick or runny?
One way to boost the nutrition of your smoothies is to use an herbal infusion in place of any other liquid (water, juice, coconut water, etc). Listening to Susun Weed’s interview on the Raw Mom Summit last year, I learned how beneficial herbal infusions are, and that they are significantly more nutritious than herbal teas.
Infusions are super easy to make. Fill a quart jar (8 cups) with 1 oz. by weight (about a cup by volume) of the herb of your choice at night, fill the jar with boiling water, cover to retain the essential oils that would otherwise escape on the steam, and let it sit 4-10 hours. I usually make mine at night so it’s ready when I get up. Strain (I pour the infusion into my french press to make straining easy and mess-free), and drink 1 cup, refrigerating the remainder to avoid spoilage. It is best to drink 2-4 cups a day, so adding some to your smoothie can help accomplish this. The taste will vary depending on the herb of course.
Why herbal infusions instead of tea? Susan says, “A cup of nettle tea has 5 mg of calcium. A cup of nettle infusion contains 250 mg of calcium. Why waste my time with teas?” If you have made the infusion the night before you can heat it up and enjoy it as you would your favorite cup of tea and experience the great nutritional benefits as well.
I have only used infusions of nettle and horsetail at present, but you can find one of Susun’s book through your library, inter-library loan (ILL), or right here in our very own Bodega and see if she’s got something in there for what ails ya. What I like about the infusions is how rich in minerals and vitamins they are — they’re natural supplements! Nettles contain Calcium, chlorophyll, chromium, cobalt, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, protein, riboflavin, selenium, thiamine, zinc, vitamins A, C, E, K.
Drinking a nettle infusion will boost your energy, give you healthy hair and skin and help solve adrenal and urinary tract issues. Alternating with horsetail (Susun recommends getting to know each herb by drinking single-herb infusions, so consume different herbs at different times), which is high in calcium and silica, will increase the strength of your hair and nails.
During the summer, we collect these undervalued plants from our yard and use the leaves as the greens in our smoothie. I find that they have a less “green” taste than kale, collards and chard! And the best part is, they’re FREE and more nutrient-dense than many of the things I can buy at the grocery store.
stinging nettle hair
I recommend that you wear gloves to harvest them to avoid getting stung, but if you do get pricked by the tiny hypodermic needles full of chemicals, the plant itself offers the remedy! Take a leaf and roll it from base to tip and put it between your teeth. Macerate the leaf into a paste and apply this paste to the stung skin. Harvest before the seeds (yellowish wisps in the picture) appear, so that the full energy of the plant is in the leaves.
Frequent harvesting also helps keep them under control, as they will spread easily in lovely loose garden soil. We have permitted them to take over a corner of our garden, but keep them contained to that area by eating them regularly. They have appeared in some of the edges of our yard, but as these are younger patches, we haven’t started harvesting them yet so that they might expand a bit more first. You can cut down the tops once they do go to seed and place in parts of your yard where you wouldn’t mind having a patch. And they’re not limited to infusions or smoothies, either. Dante likes to saute them with salt, garlic and olive oil and serve them as greens for dinner, or put them into sandwiches. Cooking or blending neutralizes the sting, so you can eat them without fear.
I would like to get enough nettles outside to be able to harvest and dry my own as well, but I first bought them from health food stores like It’s Only Natural in Middletown, Foodworks II in Old Saybrook, and Garden of Light in Glastonbury. Now that I’ve been able to sample them, I order in bulk from Mountain Rose Herbs. I really appreciate MRH’s standards concerning the people, land and plants involved in the production of their products.
The infusion is cool by the morning when I’m ready to use it, so I just strain it and add enough to my smoothie to thin it as I would any other liquid. I do tend to cut back on the greens I add when using the infusion, otherwise I find the taste a bit too green for me. But since I’m getting the nutrition from the infusion, it’s all good.
Profusion Infusion
1 apple
1 banana
1 cup frozen cherries
1 handful of greens
up to 2 cups nettle infusion
Add fruit and greens to blender.
Pour nettle infusion over it.
Blend.
I forgot to snap the picture before I started the blender, but you can still see that the infusion doesn’t greatly alter the color. Nor with all that fruit, did I even notice the taste, which is pretty mild to begin with, at least for nettles and horsetail.
I didn’t add the chia seeds to the blender, but instead put them on top to have a different sort of crunch to our smoothie. Unless you want it to thicken considerably though, when you add chia to your smoothie either in the blender or on top, you should eat it fairly quickly. If you linger over your smoothie you will end up with more a pudding than a beverage. Not a bad idea, if you’re wanting something of that consistency, but a bit of a shock if you try to drink it, only to have it fall onto your face as a lump of pudding. You can read about the benefits of adding chia seeds to your diet and buy them in our bodega.
Watch Susun and her grandaughter make nettle infusion while you down your next smoothie:
Today was our first raw food class at Green School — thanks to all who were able to join us, and we look forward to journeying further into the world of raw food together. For the younger folks in the crowd who had no clue when I started singing, this is the commercial that started it all:
And you can head on over to our Bodega and find quite a few Chia Pets, as well as chia seeds by the pound to boost the nutrition of your smoothies, salads and more.
A member of the mint family (Latin name Salvia Hispanica), this tiny black seed was used as a staple by the indigenous populations of the southwestern US, Mexico and down into South America. Mountain Rose Herbs gives us this brief history lesson, adding context to our appreciation of this important plant: “Chia was a staple for Incan, Mayan, and Aztec cultures. “Chia” is even the Mayan word for “strength”, and Chia seeds used to be referred to as “Indian Running Food” because they are so energizing. Apache and Aztec warriors sustained themselves by bringing the seeds along while on conquests, Aztecs used Chia as a legal tender, Indians of the southwest depended upon them during long trading expeditions, and they were also used by the Indians and missionaries as a poultice for gunshot wounds and other injuries.” I found this image with the tag “Mural depicting Aztec chia harvest (Courtesy of Missouri State)” but couldn’t actually find it at Missouri State, or any other information but included it anyway to give some Aztec flair to this section.
So what about the chia seed could have brought about this reverence throughout human history? According to the USDA National Nutrient Database, chia seeds are 16% protein, 44% carbohydrates (the majority of which are fiber) and 30% fat, most of which are essential fatty acids, or EFAs you read so much about these days. If you mix a spoonful of chia in a glass of water and set it aside for half an hour, the glass will be full of a mucilaginous substance upon your return. The high content of soluble fiber in the chia seed which brings about this transformation creates a physical barrier between carbohydrates and the digestive enzymes that break them down, thus slowing the conversion of carbohydrates into sugar. The result is that you feel “full” and that sugars hit your bloodstream at a slower rate, thus releasing “fuel” for your body over a longer period and contributing to chia’s reputation as an endurance food.
You can peruse a 16 page chia seed nutrition report/recipe collection at goodcausewellness.com, which lists the following benefits of chia seed consumption:
High In Omega-3 Acids. Chia seeds have higher levels of alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) than flax seed. ALA is an essential acid because it is not produced by the body. Chia contains almost a third of its mass as omega-3 and omega-6 oils. In fact, chia seeds have the highest whole-food source levels of Omega-3 acids, as measured by percent of weight.
Rich In Antioxidants. Chia is a great natural source of antioxidants, including chlorogenic acid, caffeic acid, myricetin, quercetin and flavonols.
Full of Important Nutrients. Chia is an excellent source of calcium, phosphorus, manganese, potassium, iron, zinc and copper. Chia contains six times more iron than spinach per serving.
Low In Sodium and Cholesterol-Free. Chia contains less than half the sodium of flax seed, per serving. This is
important to those with high blood pressure and concerned about sodium intake. As a plant-based source of Omega-3, chia is cholesterol-free.
Promotes Hydration. Chia soaks up water and this promotes hydration and electrolytes retention.
Helps in Weight Loss. Chock full of soluble fiber, chia is very filling. As more chia is eaten, there’s less room for higher caloric foods.
Builds Endurance. The Mayan word for chia is “strength” chia builds stamina and endurance because it steadily releases slow-burning glucose into the bloodstream
Gluten-Free. The protein in chia seed is gluten free.
Stays Fresh. Unlike flax seed, chia seed stays fresh for extended periods of time.
I myself use chia primarily as a supplement in my smoothies, tossed into the blender after the rest of the ingredients have homogenized. Dante loves chia seed pudding with fresh or dried fruit mixed in. He’s not a big chocolate fan, but I would also consider making a chocolate chia pudding by adding some cacao powder to the mix. Either way, this makes a great cooling breakfast or snack, though we’re not looking for “cooling” foods much this winter so we haven’t had some in months.
I also toss them on top of salads, salads, oatmeal, etc., but since chia seeds absorb up to seven times their weight of water, they swell into tapioca-like balls. This can add a odd texture in your salad if you’re not expecting it, so I tend to sprinkle these on just as we sit down to eat them, not ahead of time. You can take advantage of this property and make chia gel to use as a thickener for dressings, jams, and other condiments.
Chia Gel
Mix 1 part chia seeds to 8 parts water, stir several times in the first 10-20 minutes to ensure no lumps
So why all this about chia? Because I used ground chia seeds to the Ani Phyo’s Halva recipe from her new dessert book, also found in the Bodega.
Ani Phyo’s Halva Chia Thumbprint Cookie
Raspberry Sauce:
1/2 cup fresh or frozen raspberries
1/4 cup pitted Medjool dates
1/4 cup agave syrup (didn’t add)
1/4 cup water
Combine well in blender. Will keep for 3 days in refrigerator or a few weeks in freezer.
Cookies:
3/4 cup sprouted chia seed powder
1/2 cup tahini
3/4 cup almond meal
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup pitted semi-soft Medjool dates -chopped
2 tablespoons Raspberry Sauce
Combine dry ingredients with tahini and mix well. Add in agave, mix well. Add in dates and mix with your hands. I also added a little water to help them stay together.
Roll dough into 9-12 balls place on sheet preferably lined with parchment paper.
Use your thumb or end of wooden spoon to make an indentation into the center of each cookie. Fill each with generous amount of sauce.
To serve, chill in the refrigerator for 20 min. or more to firm up. Will keep for several days or many weeks stored separately from jam. Enjoy
As you have probably noticed by now, we often make changes to the recipes based on the availability of ingredients at the time inspiration strikes as well as our own ideas of ingredients we like to use or avoid. For this recipe, I made the following alterations:
I thought the oblong nuts lurking in my refrigerator drawer were almonds when I was making my shopping list, but as I discovered when I pulled them out to make this recipe, they were brazil nuts. Different flavor, but since they were all I had, I used them anyway.
I did not have sprouted chia powder, so I ground the chia seeds in my spice grinder and replaced that 1:1 for the powder.
I had only 1/4 cup tahini, so I quickly ground some sesame seeds in the grinder and added that to the Brazil nuts as I whirred them in the food processor.
I had forgotten that when watching Kevin and Ann Marie Gianni make this recipe on the Renegade Health Show that they mentioned how sweet it was. After making the “dough” by putting everything in the food processor and mashing it (not following the directions above) I tasted it and found it to be unbearably sweet. So I rummaged through the dried fruit and nut drawer and found some walnuts which I processed and added to the dough to cut the sugar.
I replaced agave nectar with honey.
I did not add honey or agave to the raspberries, just the dates and water.
I would like to give this recipe another shot using the almonds, and cutting the sweetener upfront so I don’t have to fiddle about on the back end. Luke loves these and ate half the batch I’d left home while I was at Green School, but I find that it has a funny taste, which I attribute to the chia powder, as well as possibly a bit to the Brazil nuts. I would probably not grind the seeds and just add them to the dough next time as is. The raspberry sauce was amazing and I plan on making it for other uses as well, and as Luke said, it made this recipe.
Another warm-weather treat the kids adore is chia seed pudding. We’ve touched on the health benefits of chia seeds, which include being a great source of EFA’s (essential fatty acids like omega-3), fiber and protein, on top of loads of nutrients and antioxidants. We make the almond milk ahead of time, usually for another purpose, and keep it in the fridge, so we can have this delicious cold treat. One that they have made in the past for themselves.
Chia Seed Pudding
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