Recipe: Walnut Chia Smoothie Pot

When you wake up in the morning and have had your first cup of tea or coffee, reach for a few walnuts.

It's the right way to start your day!

According to www.health.harvard.edu, there’s a good deal of benefit in having 1 ounce or a handful of walnuts every morning. Like other nuts, walnuts too contain good unsaturated fats and they also have valuable alpha-linolenic acid, which converts, in the human body, to omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA.

And since usually walnuts are had raw, either by themselves or atop breakfast cereal or in salads, their antioxidant properties are at their best, which stops or diminishes oxidation, that produces free radicals that hurt our cells, our arteries and causes heart disease.

As per the FDA statement 'Eating a diet that includes one ounce of nuts daily can reduce your risk of heart disease'.

A chia smoothie is a great option for incorporating walnuts into your diet. This recipe for a Walnut Chia Smoothie Pot provides flavour and health via delightful concoction of berries, an apple, a banana, chia and walnut milk. Can your morning begin any better?

Walnut Chia Smoothie Pot

Recipe and picture courtesy: California Walnuts

Serves: 2

Ingredients

For the chia mixture:

• 4 tbsp chia seeds
• 230 ml or 1 cup walnut milk (please see the note below)
• 1 tsp dalcheeni or cinnamon powder
• 1 tsp vanilla paste or extract
• 4 tbsp yoghurt
  

For the smoothie:

• 1 banana, cut into chunks and frozen
• 120 gm frozen berries, like blackberries, blueberries, raspberries + extra for garnish (or fresh berries that have been frozen)
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• 160 ml or little more than ½ cup walnut milk (please see the note below)
• 1 apple, thinly sliced
• 16 walnut halves, toasted

Method

For the chia mixture:

In a bowl, whisk the chia seeds, walnut milk, cinnamon, vanilla paste and the yoghurt together.
Spoon into two pots (you can use jars if you don't have a suitable pot) and leave in the fridge for at least one hour or up to 12 hours to allow the chia to swell and absorb the liquid.

For the smoothie:

When the chia mix is ready, place the banana, blackberries, cinnamon and the walnut milk into a blender and whizz until smooth.
Pour the smoothie mixture on top of the chia.

Decorate each pot with the toasted walnuts, thinly sliced apple and reserved berries.

Editor's Note: To make the walnut milk, soak 1 cup untoasted walnuts for 2 hours in 2 cups of water.
Strain and rinse walnuts well.
Transfer to a blender with 1 cup cold water.
Blend on high for a minute.
Strain through a muslin cloth till it's almost a dry powdery mass in the muslin cloth after pressing the milk.
Transfer the milk into a glass bottle and store in the refrigerator.
This yields 2 cups home-pressed walnut milk.

• REDIFF FOOD