Cranberry Chia Topping

Cranberries are another one of the great fruits that are full of vitamins and antioxidants.  Usually we only eat cranberries during the holidays or in a processed drink.  Try this quick recipe for cranberry chia topping all year round.

Take two cups of water and two or three super heaping tablespoons of chia and simmer them together until the chia starts to get a little gummy.  Add two cups of raw cranberries and simmer them just until they start to pop or smash them with a spoon.  The cranberries really need to be cooked just a little but not raw.

This mix will be tart, so you might add a spoon of whole sugar or some honey or not.  Once this mix starts to cool down you can add more fresh fruit or berries that don’t really need to be cooked like raspberries, blueberries or strawberries.  Let the fresh berries just warm up and collapse into the mix while it’s cooling.  Refrigerate this mix and keep it near the Chocolate Macaroon Madness.  Cinnamon, ginger and cayenne also go well in Cran Chia topping.  Stir them in when the chia is simmering.

I use Cran Chia as a topping for my Chocolate Macaroon over sweet fruits like pineapple, mango, grapes or bananas.  Prepare the fruit in a bowl and add the Madness and Cran Chia toppings.  Heat this just a little, like 30 (thirty) seconds in the microwave to take off the chill and bring out the flavor.  Top with three whole almonds and a piece of walnut.

Buy plenty of cranberries during the winter when they are plentiful and freeze them.  They don’t get so mushy when they defrost.  When strawberries, blueberries and raspberries ripen in the summer you can supplement the cranberries with half fresh garden berries.  Try Cranberry Chia topping alone, on top of hot or cold cereals or with just some Chocolate Macaroon and almonds.