Berry Chia Pudding Parfaits

As a beauty superfood, chia seeds have a lot going for them: they are high in protein and fiber, low in calories, and teaming with beneficial vitamins and minerals. Combine them with almond or coconut milk, a bit of coconut sugar or honey and you have a delicious and satisfying chia pudding. Still, for years, my kids wouldn’t eat them: The chia pudding I made just didn’t look yummy. In fact, if I’m honest, that gelatinous mush I ate every morning looked a lot like my daughter’s homemade slime.

Of course, as countless children across the world have discovered in the last few years, slime doesn’t need to look gross. All it needed, I decided, was a shot of color and a bit of nutritional glitter. After tinkering around with my recipe, I discovered that the consistency of chia pudding is thick, so you can pour a smoothie on top of it and it creates a beautiful contrast. To make the colors pop even more, I added fresh berries from our local farmer’s market and a sprinkling of ground pistachios. The result: a vibrantly colored smoothie-chia parfait that looked so good my daughter could barely wait for me to put it on the table before she gobbled it up.

Ingredients

For the chia pudding:

1/4  cup chia seeds

3/4 cup light coconut milk

2 tsp. coconut sugar

1/4 tsp. fresh ginger

For the berry smoothie:

1 cup organic kefir

1 cup fresh or frozen raspberries

drizzle of honey (to taste)

For the topping:

1 tbsp. ground pistachios

1/4 fresh berries

Step by step recipe

1. To make the chia pudding, combine all ingredients in a mason jar, shake well and place in fridge for a 3-4 hours until it’s thickened. I usually make a batch of this on Sunday night and then I have it for the week.
2. In the morning, pour 1 cup of kefir into a Vitamix, then add 1 cup of frozen organic raspberries on top and blend on high. Add a tablespoon of honey, blend again and taste. Continue to add honey until desired level of sweetness.
3. Scoop 1/2 cup of chia pudding into a fresh mason jar, then pour the smoothie mixture on top. Garnish with fresh fruit and ground pistachio nuts.