Hello Friends,
After a long time, today I am doing a food post. I have recently
come across this amazing “super food” (as people are calling it) called Chia
Seeds. The seeds are really tiny, even smaller than Sesame Seeds. Click the
link to get more details about the seeds.
1 ounce (28 g) or 2 tablespoons of these seeds give your approximately
137 Calories in energy and most of it upto 72 calories are fat calories. But,
don’t be alarmed, it is one of the best known sources of Omega-3 Fatty Acids
for a vegetarian/vegan and even meat lovers. Because you get 4915 mg meaning
approximately 5 g (grams) of Omega-3 Fatty Acids from one serving of Chia
Seeds, which is basically 1 ounce (28 g) or 2 tablespoons, whereas the
recommendation is only 3 g. So, you get all your daily intake of this nutrient
with just 2 tbsp of Chia Seeds. In addition, you get about 4.5 g of Protein along
with 10 g of fiber and a bit of Calcium, Phosphorus, Magnesium, Sodium, Zinc,
Copper and Manganese. Wow, no doubt, they call it “super food”.
Now, let’s see how to take it. It is in seeds form in its
raw state. Once it is added to water or any liquid, it swells up and soaks all
the water & liquid (up to 10 times its size) and forms a gel like
consistency. It has very slight nutty flavor, but very subtle, I could never
tell really.
In my house, we have started adding it to our juices and
they become nice and jello like (of course depends on how much juice and how
much chia seeds) and enjoy it.
In the course of time, I will bring many recipes of this
ingredient as I experiment with it. For now, here is a recipe we tried and had
it last week. Real simple to make and can be used as a great breakfast or snack
or dessert. We used it for dessert :)
Chia Seeds Pudding
Ingredients
Chia Seeds – 4 tbsp
Nut Milk – 1 ¼ cups (I used Almond Milk, you can use any,
due to Chia Seeds’ nutty flavor, they say it works well with nut milk, but you
can surely use regular milk too with same results)
Honey – 1-2 tbsp honey (adjust it to your taste)
Cinnamon – ½ tsp
Preparation
- Mix everything together and shake it well (with just a spoon) so that everything is well blended.
- Let it soak for at least 30 min to an hour before consuming. I had left it overnight.
- Chill it as it tastes better cold.
Serving
Serve it chilled. It is just that simple. The quantity that will be made is 2-3 servings (depending on your serving size) and approximately 125 calories per serving (for 3 servings).
Isn't that a great healthy dessert that gives you so much nutrition?
This is my contribution to Healthy Me & Healthy US event that I am hosting this month.
Take Care till next post,
Priya
