Chia Pudding

BASIC CHIA PUDDING (yields 3-4 servings)

3/4 cup chia seeds
2 cups almond milk
Stevia and vanilla extract to taste - I used sweetened condensed milk or honey

Simply mix the ingredients together, and let them rest for a few moments. Stir the mix well with a fork every five minutes or so. At first, it’ll seem far too liquidy, but over the course of thirty minutes the chia seeds will plump up, till the pudding resembles tapioca pudding (I put in the fridge overnight)

Came out pretty yummy, like tapioca pudding, but with a crunch to it. The guys liked it as well, and added a bit more milk to it, and one of them added cinnamon for a nice touch as well.

CHOCOLATE CHIA PUDDING

2 cups almond milk
1/3 cups chia seeds
3 tablespoons hot chocolate mix

In blender bottle, mix hot chocolate powder with almond milk, then pour over chia seeds. Stir till blended, wait 5 minutes, stir again, and put in fridge overnight.

COCONUT MILK CHIA PUDDING

1 can coconut milk
1/4 cut chia seeds
1/3 cup honey
dash of cardamom

Mix all ingredients and let sit in fridge overnight.

THAI TAPIOCA PUDDING

So my idea is to put this recipe with the chia seeds to make a tasty version of this, but without the tapioca pearls and substituting the chia seeds instead.

1 cup small Thai tapioca pearls (see note) - will substitute with 3 cups chia seeds
8 cups cool water, divided use
3 cups coconut milk (Mae Ploy brand recommended)
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt

Rinse tapioca in cool tap water. Drain.

Place in saucepan with 6 cups water. Bring to a boil over medium heat and cook 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Drain and rinse.

Combine coconut milk and 2 cups water in a clean saucepan. Add tapioca to milk mixture and bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Add sugar and salt, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat.

Taste and add more sugar or salt as needed. Let mixture sit in saucepan for 30 minutes. Pour into dessert glasses and serve warm. Serves 8.

Variation: Serve chilled with 1/4 cup diced honeydew melon added to each serving.

Approximate nutritional analysis, per serving: 330 calories, 18 g total fat, 16 g saturated fat, no cholesterol, 150 mg sodium.*

Hearty Miso

While I was down in DC this past week, I had some delicious miso, and I found out that Trader Joe's now has frozen kale (what?) so I figured why not make miso tonight, but with some yummy extras to make it a more hearty broth:

3 packets of Trader Joe's Miso soup mix
1/2 an onion, chopped
2 cups frozen kale (or probably 3 cups chopped fresh kale)
1 cup of chopped tomatoes
rice noodles
flakes of seaweed to put on top as garnish

Mix everything together (except tomatoes, seaweed, and noodles) and boil till it starts to boil. Add noodles and boil for recommended time (mine were fresh so only a few minutes) and serve!

Basil and tomato scramble

3 cloves garlic
handful of grape/cherry tomatoes
4 eggs
8 basil leaves
Parmesan cheese

Brown (only light brown) garlic in olive oil (used 3 cloves)
Add in tomatoes and cook till tomatoes just start to shrivel
Add in 4 eggs and scramble till nearly done
Turn off heat and add in chopped basil and let sit
Add cheese to taste and serve!

Garlic brussel sprouts with pine nuts

1/2 pound Brussels sprouts
2 large garlic cloves
1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons pine nuts


put olive oil in bottom of pan
brown garlic
add brussels sprouts and cook till tender

Eggplant and Tomato Saute

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil $
2 cups chopped red onion (1 large)
1 cup chopped yellow bell pepper (about 1) $
1 cup chopped red bell pepper (about 1) $
2 teaspoons minced garlic
5 1/2 cups diced peeled eggplant (about 1 pound) $
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper $
1 (14 1/2-ounce) can organic diced tomatoes, undrained $
Preparation

Heat oil in a large nonstick saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion and bell peppers; sauté for 3 minutes. Add garlic, and sauté for 1 minute. Add the eggplant, salt, black pepper, and tomatoes; stir to combine. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 5 minutes.

Eggs with Eggplant

INGREDIENTS:

1 pound of eggplant
6 eggs
1 large onion
6 cloves of garlic, mashed with a dash of salt
mint
1/2 cup of olive oil
pita bread
METHOD:

Cut  the eggplant in small dice  and place on a sieve over a bowl. Sprinkle with salt.
Chop the onion.
Preheat the oven to 400F.
Mash the garlic with a dash of salt.
Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan and when it is hot, add the onion.
Let the onion get golden, which will take about 15 minutes.
Drain the eggplant, squeeze the extra moisture with some paper towels and drop in the pot with the onions.
Brown the eggplants about 15 minutes on medium high heat.
Add the mashed garlic and saute with the eggplant and onion a few more minutes.
Form craters in the pan and drop in each one an egg (do so delicately )
Place the pan in the oven for about 8 minutes until the whites are firm.
Remove, sprinkle with mint, and serve with pita bread on the side. Sahteyn!



Christy's Lazy Way:

Brown onions
Cut up grilled eggplant leftovers (grilled with garlic and olive oil) while onions are browning
Mix in eggplant to onions and reheat
While reheating, poach eggs
Put poached eggs on top of individual servings of eggplant mix and serve.