Orange and Kale Chia Pudding: For a breakfast alternative or a healthy dessert, I’ve created my own vibrant take on the recipe of the moment – the chia pudding.
This recipe first appeared in my monthly ‘Taste Not Waste’ column in Vegetarian Living magazine (Jan 2016 issue).
Kale grows so well in the UK, even throughout the winter, so it is a wonderful way to get green goodness into our diets. After the excess of Christmas, in January we welcome fresher food, lighter meals and healthier living, and with kale so often touted as a nutritional powerhouse, it’s an easy seasonal veg to reach for this month.
In the supermarkets, kale often comes already chopped up without its tough stems, but if you’re lucky enough to grow your own or get them from a greengrocer or farmers’ market, then you can get huge umbrellas of this fashionable brassica, complete with stems and leaves.
Many recipes call for only the tender leaves, but there are many uses for the celery-like stems. They can be added to soups and stews, but as they will take longer to cook than the leaves, you’ll need to separate the stems and chop them into smaller pieces to ensure even cooking and avoid those occasional unpleasant too-chewy mouthfuls in your finished dish.
For a breakfast alternative or a healthy dessert, I’ve created my own vibrant take on the recipe of the moment – the chia pudding. This simple two-flavour dish turns what are essentially smoothies into something more substantial. The chia seeds absorb and gel in the liquid, turning it into a thick consistency. With their beautiful yin and yang effect in the bowl, the contrasting flavours provide a wonderfully balanced dish – the green kale pudding takes on the flavour of the almond milk and has a gentle sweetness that pairs perfectly with the zesty yet creamy taste of the orange and oat pudding.
SOS – Save Our Scraps
Kale is surprisingly versatile, and even those unpromising woody stems can be transformed into something delicious.
- Add leftover kale stems to soup, stews and stir fries – just chop finely first
- Saute kale leaves and finely chopped stems with onion and garlic for an easy side dish
- Rub a little olive oil on kale leaves, sprinkle on some sea salt and roast in the oven to make kale chips
- A handful of kale (leaves and stems), a banana and some orange juice whizzed in the blender makes a lovely green smoothie to kick-start your day.
- 250ml almond milk
- 50g kale leaves, washed
- 1 ripe banana
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp honey or maple syrup
- 50g chia seeds
- 75ml almond milk
- 50g uncooked oats
- 2 large oranges, peeled
- 1 ripe banana
- 50g chia seeds
- Whizz the milk, kale, banana and honey (if using), in a blender until smooth.
- Add the chia seeds and blend for a few seconds to combine.
- Pour into a bowl and chill in the fridge for at least 1 hour or overnight, to thicken.
- Whizz the milk, oats, oranges and banana in a blender until smooth.
- Add the chia seeds and blend, then pour into a bowl and chill as above.
- Spoon the chia puddings together into bowls or glasses and serve cold.
I made this recipe in my amazing Froothie Optimum 9400 high-speed blender. I’m an ambassador for the brand, so if you mention Veggie Desserts when you order, you’ll get two years free warranty.
What a special recipe! The pudding sounds so refreshing and delicious. Exactly the perfect energy food to start my day 🙂 Sharing of course!
This is certainly one of the most unique chia puddings I’ve ever seen!!! Would love to try this, though I doubt mine will look as pretty as yours!
Wow…that looks healthy and perfect for breakfast. Oranges are so good right now and added into this recipe must be fantastic. Yum!
Healthy desserts are always welcome. I’ll even have this for breakfast. The colors are so appetizing!
I never thought to combine kale and oranges – what a neat idea! The seasons just overlap, for me (Local kale, Florida oranges, of course.)
And I’ve never seen already chopped and trimmed kale – how convenient… Some kinds I can eat the stems with no problems, but that late fall curly kale – those stems are tough!
I haven’t tried Chia Puddings yet, but this colourful version just may tempt me! Thanks…
You never cease to amaze me, this looks so good and I enjoyed the additional information about using kale stems. I’m hoping to grow some kale this year, so should have proper stems.
This looks so pretty! I haven’t tried chia pudding yet but I keep saying them so I should give them a go!
Such a lovely recipe idea! Chia pudding is one of my go to’s in the summer when I don’t want a warm breakfast.
Love the way you present dishes, they say we eat first with our eyes, and my eyes tell me this pudd looks tasty and healthy too!
This is so beautiful, and very creative too! I love chia pudding, and haven’t made one for ages.
This is a great recipe, something I need to try home. I have started to use Kale in my smoothies and they have excellent ingredients and gives a good ammount of Iron. Simply love a healthy breakfast!
Celia x
I haven’t made a chia pudding in awhile – my latest one was also orange, but with berries. The addition of kale is of course very attractive to this kale-head. My three varieties of kale are still happy and full of leaves, although they aren’t actively growing. I love nipping outside to cut off just what I need. Might have to nip out for this recipe 🙂
This looks so yummy; I recently agreed to do a health and wellbeing challenge for Holland and Barretts and chia pudding is on my menu for tomorrow. I’ve never tried it before, so I hope I like it.
Love the vibrant colour of this pudding. It really cheers you up and looks very appetizing too.
I absolutely love your recipe and the photo looks stunning too! I use chia seeds but mostly for sprinkling on food, never actually as a main ingredient in a recipe.
Ooh congratulations on getting a regular column in Vegetarian Living – you are truly awesome Kate 🙂 AS for your chia pudding, it’s astonishingly beautiful and sounds super tasty too.