Chia Pudding

You remember these guys. The chia pets. I bet just seeing this picture starts the jingle, ch-ch-ch-chia, singing in your head. In the 60's home cooks were beginning to experiment with sprouting seeds and beans in the kitchen. I experimented with sprouting mung beans, radish seeds, and alfalfa seeds. Looking at this Chia pet makes me wonder why it never occurred to me to sprout chia seeds. I think because they weren't readily available

This article  warns us of salmonella and E. coli outbreaks from sprouts because of contaminated seeds. Be informed. This website is an online source for sprouting.

Sorry for the side track. I don't really want to talk about sprouting. I want to talk about Chia seeds. I found this article about the benefits and side effects of eating Chia seeds. I think that if you buy your seeds from a reputable source and eat them in moderation you have nothing to fear. I was frankly surprised to find these warnings and cautions online. 

This chia seed pudding is my own concoction. I encourage you to expand on this theme. It's a no cook recipe. Just mix everything together, give the seeds a couple of hours to expand and you're ready to call in the spoons.

Simple (yet versatile) Chia Seed Pudding

This recipe will serve 6. The texture reminds me of rice pudding. 

Prepare 3 hours before serving.

Combine all ingredients in a 2 quart bowl:

1 16 oz can of coconut milk (the original one - it will be very thick and the can will not read 'lite coconut milk')

1 cup rice milk

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 to 1 cup raisins

5 tablespoons chia seeds

Stir everything together thoroughly. The Chia seeds may clump, so keep stirring. Refrigerate. In 30 minutes, stir again. Refrigerate. In another 30 minutes, stir again. Now you want to check the thickness of your pudding. If it is too thick, add more rice milk and stir thoroughly. Refrigerate another 2 hours.

You may want to add fruit, nuts, maple syrup, cinnamon or mint at serving time. You can skip the coconut milk and make this pudding using 2 cups of rice milk to start. Ohh, chocolate - yes, chocolate rice milk would be good to try. If you liked the texture of the rice pudding you had as a child, you will like the texture of this pudding.