BED: Raw Blackberry Chia Jam

My favorite part of summer has always been the berries. Don't get me wrong -- not having to wear a coat or socks are fantastic but what always gets me most excited is seeing the farmer's markets flooded with berries. One May, when I was living in Paris, my friend Davey visited me. There, we discovered fraises gariguettes -- a special variety of strawberry that's absolutely out of this world. We bought two cartons a day -- one to eat on the way home and the other to have for dessert. They were so good that we didn't need to do anything to them; just ate them right out of the carton!

Sadly, the gariguettes are only a memory now and I no longer have the time to go to the market every day. And, while he does eat berries, the vegetarian doesn't get nearly excited enough about them to ever warrant getting more than one carton. Truth be told, he prefers his fruit mixed with wine to make sangria!

But berries are one of the few sour fruits allowed on the body ecology diet and so I knew I needed to celebrate summer by having some. But I wanted to do something more interesting than just eating them raw and it was too hot to cook them. I also didn't really want to make a dessert. Truthfully, the best time of day to have fruit is in the morning and I wanted something I could eat for breakfast. Luckily I found a recipe for Raw Blackberry Chia Jam. The really exciting thing about this jam is that it's made with chia seeds, a superfood that's very high in omega-3's and that, when combined with liquids, absorbs them to form a jelly. Cool! I've been having the jam for breakfast with buckwheat cakes (like rice cakes but made with buckwheat) that I found at a little Russian market near us. I bet you could also swirl some into vanilla ice cream for dessert. Bon appetit!

Raw Blackberry Chia Jam
adapted from Instructables

• 1 cup blackberries
• 1/2 cup chia seeds
• 1/2 cup water
• 10-15 drops stevia extract
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice

Mash blackberries. Mix together everything else. Place in a covered container and set in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. Keeps for about 1 week. Enjoy!

Edible Inspirations:

• Raw Blackberry Chia Jam from Instructables
• Blackberry Chia Jam from Utterly Yummy!
• Easy Strawberry Chia Seed Jam from Eating Bird Food
• Triple Almond Cherry Crumble Squares from Oh She Glows
• Berry Chia Pudding from Vegan Yack Attack