I am finally on the Chia seed bandwagon, and now I feel the need to share a delicious Apple Pie Chia Pudding recipe. I admit it took a little while for me to be convinced of the benefits of this little grain.
My change of heart came about as I was trying to increase the amount of fibre in our diet in a delicious way. I had read an article in Scientific America about the effects of fibre on our gut bacteria.
The article compared the variety of bacteria in people with a very diverse range of diets. The results were profound and had huge health implications. I won’t go into the details of the article but I decided to help my gut bacteria function by feeding it more fibre.
I did a little research and found there are three types of fibre which are important in the diet. Soluble fibre, insoluble fibre and resistant start. All of these types are needed to keep our stomach bacteria happy. Dieticians recommend eating 25gm of fibre per day.
Australians tend to be pretty good at achieving this goal but get the majority of the 25 grams comes from insoluble fibre.
My next step was to research good sources of soluble fibre and resistant starches. Soluble fibre is mostly found in fruits, vegetables and Chia seed. Chia seed is actually a good source of both soluble and insoluble fibre.
Resistant starches are quite interesting. The research I read explained that resistant starches are foods which are not able to be broken down by our own body. These foods are fully available to our stomach bacteria to eat.
This makes our little pets (good tummy bacteria) very healthy and very happy so they do a better job in the gut. Examples of resistant starches are legumes such as lentils and beans, pasta and firm bananas. Happily, potato eaten cold is a good form of resistant starch. I can’t wait to share my delicious potato salad recipe! YUM.
In the meantime, I want to share a breakfast Chia Pudding which tastes just like apple pie. I’ve topped the chia seed pudding with a crunchy homemade granola which adds to the whole apple pie flavour and texture profile. The granola also adds more fibre the chia pudding in the form of whole grains.
Apple Pie Chia Pudding – Super Food Breakfast
Ingredients
- 260 ml almond milk
- 1 green apple
- 2 pitted dates
- 3 Tbs chia seed 30gms
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ground ginger
- 1 tsp vanilla essence
Topping
- 8 slices apple pie apples unsweetened
- 6 Tbs Granola
Instructions
- Quarter the apple and remove the seeds.
- Add the milk, apple, dates, cinnamon, ginger and vanilla to a blender and liquify.
- Stir the chia seeds through the apple mixture by hand.
- Pour the pudding into 4 small glasses.
- Refrigerate the pudding for at least one hour or overnight.
Optional Topping to Serve
- Add two slices of apple to the top of the pudding glasses and sprinkle with 1 1/2 Tbs of granola.
- Serve
Nutrition
Although I haven’t pictured the Chia seed pudding with the poached apple it makes a delicious inclusion in the dish. The addition of more fruit also increases the fibre content of the breakfast.
The nutritional value for the recipe is given without the addition of the topping as granola varies from brand to brand. The Chia pudding has 5gm of fibre and makes a great nutritionally balanced snack or light breakfast.
What are your thoughts on Chia seeds? Do you vary your breakfast or prefer to have the same breakfast each day?
Easy to prepare, made 4 serves. Great taste, I will probably cut the sweetness by only using 1 date next time. Used unsweetened almond milk. Topped with pears & berries & a dash of gf granola