Ch-Ch-Ch-Chia

Last week I decided to harvest the chia seed from the plants. I had finished the actual chia plant harvest 

about a month ago, and the "heads" of the plants have been stored in open jars to continue the drying process. We hadn't grown chia before, so the learning curve was steep...

 Here are the dried heads I call em.  They are so poky, even when fresh. When blooming they have beautiful but small indigo flowers coming off of them. They remind me of artichoke plants but much smaller and pokier. OUCH.

 I started this process by shaking the jars. It worked a little.

 Then I would dump the jar upside-down to empty the seeds out.

 After blowing some of the husks off of the top of the seed collection, this is what they look like. A little lighter in color than those purchased in stores.

My whole yield was 1 TBSP. Although I am proud of it, that 1 TBSP came at a cost of: 2 seed packets, 20 feet of garden space, quite a few chia splinters, about 30 minutes of harvest time, and about 20 minutes seed-harvesting time. 

Granted, I didn't really know what I was doing. Afterwards I learned some cultures swat the plant with a fly-swatter. This method did not sound appealing to me, and I'm not too sure how effective it was at actually capturing the seeds. For seed spreading I get it... But really?

Why grow or eat chia?

Dr. Oz said to. Kidding. This one gets me every time. He really did say that you should. I would love for people to take me that seriously! But I'm not writing this as a shout out to Mehmet. Chia really is good for you. The seeds have ample quantities of Omega-3 fatty acids that are good for us for many reasons, anti-inflammatory mainly. The neato thing about these (versus the very popular flaxseed) is that they don't need to be ground. They also have a hefty amount of fiber which is pretty good for bowel health. (Fiber can work both ways on our digestive system so caution here if your bowels are sensitive.)

What's in chia?

Here is an approximation of what's in 1 TBSP:

70 calories

5 gm fat 

5 gm fiber

3 gm protein

How to eat chia?

They have some flavor dry, but I don't recommend eating them this way. I make a pudding or eat them mixed into oatmeal or sprinkled on yogurt.

Here is the recipe for the "pudding":

(if you don't like tapioca I'm not sure you would enjoy this)

Adapted from Whole Foods Chia Pudding--Serves 6

2/3 cup chia seeds

2 cups milk or milk substitute

1/2 tsp vanilla extract or 1 tsp maple syrup or both

Combine

Mix

Mix again later (takes at least 30 minutes to thicken)

When thickened, serve and enjoy

Cost

After growing and harvesting these little super seeds I can see why they are $8 a pound in the store. For the record, I do eat chia seeds on a fairly regular basis, but not daily. 

Yum Factor

I just made a single serving of the pudding above with the bountiful harvest. Although I feel like a glutton the night before Thanksgiving, I am going to enjoy the entire chia harvest anyway.