Berry Coconut Chia Pudding

Some of you may remember Kevin and my distaste general disinterest for Valentine's Day in previous years.  Kevin and I started dating a little over three years ago right before Valentine's day, so we felt a bit awkward as to what our expectations of each other were on Valentine's Day.  We have come to an understanding that we expect nothing special on Valentine's day, but generally end up doing something fun together (preferably at home since most places are crowded).

In past years we have cooked together at home and enjoyed a night in watching a movie.  We are currently making our way through the James Bond collection that Kevin got from my parents this year for Christmas.  We just finished up The Living Daylights, which was actually pretty good after just watching A View to a Kill before.

As most people feel around Valentine's Day, I'm sure, I am craving something with a bit of sweetness to it.  I remembered how yummy my chocolate pudding was last year, so I decided to make another chia pudding:

Berry Coconut Chia Pudding

Servings: 6-8
Time: 5 minutes, plus 1 hour chill

Ingredients:

• 1 cup frozen berries
• 1 16 oz can lite coconut milk
• 1 7 oz cube soft silken tofu, drained
• 6-8 dates
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 cup chia seeds
• fresh berries to garnish

Instructions:

1. In a high speed blender, blend all of the ingredients except for the chia seeds and fresh berries.  Blend until very smooth and creamy.  It will be a little thicker than milk, but thinner than a smoothie.
2. Pour the blended ingredients into a medium sized bowl.  Stir in the chia seeds until they are fully coated and mixed into the liquid.
3. Cover and let sit in the fridge for at least an hour.  Serve in a small bowl topped with fresh berries.  Store leftovers in an airtight container until all of your Valentines are sweetly satisfied!

Amy's Notes:

Make sure to taste the blended pudding portion before combining it with the chia seeds.  You may find that you want to blend more dates to make the pudding sweeter.

For this recipe I used frozen organic sweet cherries for the liquid and fresh blackberries and blueberries to top, but feel free to mix it up however you would like.