Recipe: Pumpkin pudding

(Painting by Bierstadt Albert)

It's not technically the fall for a few more days, but if you live in Canada (and not on the balmy west coast) then you know that the real first day of fall is September 1st. This recipe is a celebration of the beginning of fall. It's like pumpkin pie filling, minus the crust and with some extra protein thrown in.

A few of my fellow grad students at my new campus invited me to join their "lunch club". I told them that I'd love to... but I'm vegan. To my surprise and great delight, they decided that we would have a vegan lunch club! On a rotating basis each of us will prepare lunch for everybody else in the lunch club. Today was my first day being the cook for our lunch club. I brought delicious thai-inspired sweet potato burgers and this pumpkin pudding. I think they were both a hit!

Recipe: Pumpkin pudding
Serves 8

1 can of pure pumpkin puree (796 ml)
1 package of soft tofu (350 g)
1/3 cup maple syrup, or to taste
1/4 cup coconut oil
3 tbs orange juice
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cardamom

1. Put the coconut oil in the microwave for a few seconds to melt it. Alternatively, you could make a hot water bath to melt the coconut oil.

2. Place all the ingredients in a blender. Blend until very smooth.

3. Serve immediately or allow to chill in the refrigerator before serving. The cooler its temperature, the thicker the pudding will be. Enjoy!

Chia seed pudding

I'm a big fan of tapioca pudding. I don't know why, but I love the texture of the little gelatinous balls in sweet, milky syrup. If you like tapioca pudding then you'll love this recipe: chia seed pudding. Maybe you'll like it even if you don't like tapioca pudding! Before the recipe, a little background on chia seeds for those who are interested.

Chia seeds are little black seeds, about the size of sesame seeds. They come from the chia plant, which is belongs to the mint family. According to Wikipedia, it's been cultivated in the Americas since pre-Columbian times. In case you're wondering, these are the same type of chia seeds as are used to grow the "hair" of Chia Pets.

Chia seeds are very good for you, so I'm told. They've got lots of fibre, omega-3s, calcium, magnesium, and protein. There's evidence that it has a stabilizing effect on blood sugar, which is especially good for people who have diabetes.

Ok, now the recipe. It's really straight-forward. My mum and her partner introduced me to chia seed pudding, and they heard about it from Oh She Glows. All you need for a basic chia seed pudding is a ratio of 3 tbs chia seeds to 1 cup of milk. The milk can be of any kind -- dairy, coconut, soy, almond. Then you can add whatever sweeteners or flavouring you like. It goes in the fridge overnight and then can be enjoyed the next day plain, with fruit, on cereal, or however you see fit. The seeds thicken the milk into a gel over night, reminiscent of tapioca pudding, only with a bit of a crunch.

There aren't exactly a lot of ingredients in this recipe.

In go the chia seeds, and already it's almost done.

I'm a big fan of maple syrup, so I didn't skimp.

And breakfast is ready! :)

Recipe: Chia seed pudding
Serves 2

-1 cup milk (any kind)
-3 tbs chia seeds
-1 tbs liquid sweetener (maple, agave, honey), or to taste
-other flavourings, as desired: ex, vanilla extract, cinnamon, ginger, cocoa, raisins

1. Mix ingredients together in a container.

2. Cover the container and let it sit in the fridge overnight.

3. Eat the pudding as is, on cereal, on fruit salad, or however is desired.

And that's it! Enjoy!


Want to learn more about chia seeds?
-Some suggestions of how to use chia seeds 
-A show-down of flax seeds and chia seeds
-The health benefits of chia seeds