May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and in the spirit of mental health, I created a recipe that aids in mental acuity and overall emotional wellbeing. Kicking off your metabolism and stabilizing blood sugar at the day’s outset helps keep you balanced. The matcha green tea powder, coconut milk and chia seeds come together for a breakfast with heavy-hitting emotional wellness properties, not to mention a boost to digestion, muscle recovery, and more.
You can make chia pudding the night before and it’ll keep in the fridge up to 4-5 days.
Makes 2-4 servings
Macha-Coconut Chia Pudding
1 can coconut milk
1 teaspoon maple syrup, agave, honey, coconut sugar, or natural sweetener of choice
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
Pinch of sea salt or pink Himalayan salt
1/4 cup chia seeds
½ heaping teaspoon matcha powder
Using a hand blender or regular blender, lightly blend coconut milk, sweetener, vanilla extract and salt (or whisk very, very well by hand). Whisk in chia seeds and match powder until thoroughly blended. If consistency looks a bit too thick, add a teaspoon or two of water.
Set in a closed container and refrigerate overnight to firm up.
Quick Strawberry-Vanilla Compote
1 cup strawberries, cleaned and diced
1-2 tablespoons coconut sugar or regular sugar *depending on how sweet your strawberries are
1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
½ teaspoon water
In a small saucepan, lightly simmer strawberries, sugar, vanilla, salt and water on low-medium heat for 10-15 minutes until broken down and slightly glossy.
To serve:
4-8oz (1/2–1 cup) chia pudding (remember it’s VERY filling) topped with a few teaspoons of strawberry
