Alternative Medicine is a passion that translates into a thousand and one discoveries on a daily basis. I shared with you my enthusiasm for the essential oil diffuser, and the other day we (re) discovered together the benefits of Spirulina. Today, we tried the Chia for you (especially in a recipe). One, two, three, Chia Chia Chia!
In Mayan (Mayan is still a living language?), “Chia” means force (as in “may the force be with you”). It does seem like it does indeed fall under the category of “Super Foods”, even though we know that there is no magic food to protect us from all ailments.
The +++ of Chia Seeds
These tiny black seeds, which swell in water to give a kind of not really appetizing pudding, include many benefits… Here’s a non-exhaustive list:
- rich in fiber (a tablespoon is already a quarter of what nutritionists expect of us per day)
- high in omega-3 fats. We are talking here about a ratio of 1: 3 with its cousin Omega 6 – 1: 3 it is a good ratio depending on the NEU measurement (what Nutritionists Expect from Us)
- high in protein – always a good thing
- also source of vitamin E, B1, calcium, magnesium and fatty acids.
- last but not least, helps in weight loss because it swells in volume in the belly, suddenly we are no longer hungry for anything else. Is not it great? CHIA! (more power to you!)
Every Chia Occurence
We have of course made a recipe based on Chia seeds (see below) but there are methods to use these little black seeds in your daily life (it’s not every day that you have time to make granola bars). So here are some ways to get to the bottom of the Chia bag:
- 2 tablespoons of chia seeds in a glass of water to cut afternoon hunger;
- mixes in yogurts, smoothies or salads.
- The popular thing about chia seeds is making a pudding out of it. It is supposed to cut hunger and in truth, with the appearance that it has, not even need to eat it, we’re already not hungry. But still, here is the little recipe: put 1 spoon of chia seeds for 6 spoons of liquid, let stand between one hour and three hours (it depends if your seeds are very tired or not.)
Chia Energy Bars
To be in great shape, these bars are definitely better than those sold in the market. It takes a lot of ingredients but it’s worth it for a nutritious snack!
You can freeze what’s left over, especially if it’s just you and your sweet half loving them – the kids weren’t too crazy about them I don’t know why. Maybe we haven’t mixed the seeds and nuts enough in the machine and actually seeing the seeds seem to kill their appetite.
- Here is the nut butter that we make quite simply: vegetable oil + nuts and seeds, depending on the desired texture.
2 ch. organic ground chia seeds
1 banana
2 apples, cut into pieces
3 ch. tablespoon of vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups organic blanched almond or hazelnut butter
2 1/2 cups instant oatmeal
1 cup organic Medjool dates, pitted and mashed
1 cup of organic grated coconut
3⁄4 cup organic European pumpkin seeds
3⁄4 cup of mixed organic nuts (almond, cashew, Grenoble, pecan …)
1⁄2 cup of 70% organic dark chocolate chunks – We didn’t use chocolate since there isn’t any sugarless chocolate in our part of the world. And no, it’s not a developing country.
1 cup of dried fruit cut into small pieces (grapes, cranberries, apricots, figs)
I want to tell everyone who reads this blog (mom, are you there?) that I used my cups to measure 3/4 and 1/4, whereas before I did it “approximately” … we just keep getting better.
Let’s Get to It
Here are the three steps before putting the mixture in the oven:
- Dip the chia seeds in 6 tbsp. of water for about 25 minutes, until a thick gel forms. Magic !!
- Mix the banana, apple cubes, chia gel, vanilla and nut butter in a food processor until you get a texture that looks like a compote.
- Place the mixture in a (large?) bowl and add the oatmeal, date puree, coconut, beans, nuts, etc and mix well together. Place mixture in a glass lasagna container. Compact the mixture well with a spatula so that the surface is even.
Bake at 350 ̊C for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and let stand until the patty is edible. Cut into pieces – see the photo opposite as an example (you like my napkin?)
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