“Life is short; Eat dessert first….” – Jacques Torres
With healthy, nourishing fats and protein courtesy of chia seeds and tahini, and sustaining energy provided by banana, there’s only one thing that could make this breakfast even more powerful…. Raw chocolate!
A breakfast that includes chocolate is always going to boost your mood when the Winter Blues are looming, but when the chocolate comes in the form of raw cacao, you’ll be receiving a huge amount of nutrients and benefits compared to the average corner-shop chocolate bar….
While the processed sugar in most chocolate bars actually depletes the body of vital nutrients; raw cacao provides high amounts of antioxidants, potassium, iron, magnesium, copper and zinc (just to name a few). It includes essential heart-healthy fats, B vitamins and good amounts of protein and fibre too.
Feeling ‘guilty’ about what you choose to eat is a waste of energy, especially if life is short, but this is genuinely one indulgent breakfast which really is totally ‘guilt free’. Of course, you could always serve this as an actual after-dinner pudding as a welcome alternative to sugary desserts; just make sure you save room for it!
Ingredients: (Serves 1)
- 1 large banana
- 1 tbsp tahini
- 1 tbsp raw cacao powder
- 2 tbsp chia seeds
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- ¼ cup almond milk or other non-dairy milk
- pinch of good quality salt (optional)
How To:
- Whizz everything together in a blender or food processor.
- Leave to stand for 15-20 minutes for the chia seeds to create a thick, pudding-like texture.
- Optional: Top with chilli, orange zest, or even star anise, black pepper or grated apple if you want to get really traditional! Eat & enjoy. The history of flavoured chocolate is an interesting one:
From The Flavour Thesaurus by Niki Segnit:
‘Both orange zest and orange-flower water have been used to flavour chocolate since at least the seventeenth century. The combination of orange and chocolate has endured where other once-common flavourings like black pepper and anise, have faded into obscurity. Surprising then, that Terry’s famous Chocolate Orange was originally an apple.
Launched in 1926, the apple proved so popular that an orange version was launched four years later. When both went back into production after the war, orange quickly overtook apple in popularity and the latter was discontinued in 1954. The Chocolate Orange finally grew up in 1975 when the dark chocolate version was introduced, its bitter astringency complementing the sweet muskiness of orange oil far better than frumpy, facetious milk’.
…. You learn something new every day!
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