Banana Chia Breakfast Pudding
Kind of sad, isn't it, that until I was thirty years old this was the first thing that popped into my head whenever anybody said the word "chia"?:(You too, I bet!) Chia seeds are incredibly nutritious (fiber! antioxidants! those precious omega-3s!), and they're so easy to throw into a smoothie, cakey bread (like banana or lemon or pumpkin), or warm breakfast cereal. I had a really delicious chia pudding for dessert at Quintessence awhile back, and when I spotted some too-ripe bananas in the fridge while I was home last month, I decided to make something similar for breakfast.
Gathering whatever I have on hand, experimenting, and taking notes—I need to do this more often! This being a raw pudding with no surprise ingredients, honestly, it was hard to mess up. My mother happily gobbled up a bowl, and she doesn't eat more than a bite of the things I make if she doesn't actually like them.
Here's the recipe (if you can even call it that):
- 3 large ripe bananas
- ½ cup almond milk
- 3 tbsp. chia seeds stirred into 1½ cups water
- ½ tsp. cinnamon
- 1 cup chopped strawberries
- 1 tbsp. maple syrup (optional; if you use berries and super-ripe bananas it'll be sweet enough without it)
Let the chia seeds sit in water for a few minutes so they "glub up." Mash bananas with a fork and mix all ingredients together. Yields 4½ cups, so about four servings. (That said, I gobbled it all up apart from the cup I gave my mom.)Next time I'll try letting the seeds soak in almond milk so it'll be creamier. I also want to try a more autumnal chia pudding with pumpkin puree!