Vegan Vanilla Chia Pudding

This recipe is from my mom, Terry, she often makes this for me before class and I truly cannot wait to get in from the studio to eat my chia pudding. Not only does it taste amazing (kind of like tapioca pudding for those of you who have had it!), but it is a great source of energy.

There is a story in the book, Born to Run, about the Tarahumara, a tribe of people known for running, who use chia seeds as a source of energy. Here is an excerpt from the book that describes some of the abundant benefits of chia:

In terms of nutritional content, a tablespoon of chia is like a smoothie made from salmon, spinach and human growth hormone. As tiny as those seeds are, they’re super packed with omega 3, omega 6, protein, calcium, iron, zinc, fiber, and antioxidants. If you had to pick just one desert-island food, you couldn’t do much better than chia, at least if you were interested in building muscle, lowering cholesterol, and reducing your risk of heart disease: after a few months on the chia diet, you could probably swim home. Chia was once so treasured, the Aztec’s used to deliver it to their king in homage. Aztec runners used to chomp chia seeds as they went into battle, and the Hopis fueled themselves on chia during their epic runs from Arizona to the Pacific Ocean. 

Ingredients

  • 1 cup plant-based milk, or milk of choice
  • 1/4 cup of cashews (or half cashews and half macadamia nuts)
  • 1 tbsp maple syrup
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 3 1/2 tbsp chia seeds

Directions

  1. In Vitamix or high-speed blender, blend the milk, nuts, maple syrup and vanilla.
  2. Blend on high until smooth.
  3. Put the chia seeds in a jar or bowl and pour the milk mixture overtop.
  4. Stir occasionally for about 5 minutes so the chia seeds don’t settle to the bottom.
  5. Refrigerate to set (it needs about 20 minutes to thicken, but it’s good to make the night ahead to have in the morning!).
  6. To serve you can add hemp seeds, nuts or fruit!
  7. Enjoy!! 🙂

Tip: if you want a chai flavour add 1/4 teaspoon each of cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger.

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