Strawberry Chia Jam

Strawberry Chia Jam

About a month ago I attended the IACP conference for culinary professionals in New York. The amazing thing about the conference was meeting a ton of cookbook authors, learning about their food journey and seeing their passion pour through in the pages of their cookbooks. One of those talented authors became my weekend BFF and that’s Sonja from A Couple Cooks! She and her husband wrote a fabulous cookbook full of 100 vegetarian recipes that are sooooo pretty and sooooo simple! It’s their Pretty Simple Cooking Cookbook (OBV), which is now available everywhere!

I was so excited to dig in because I absolutely love vegetarian recipes that are easy to make and have accessible ingredients. So the first thing I decided to make was this strawberry chia jam. I know what you’re thinking, you said easy. But this is totally easy, I promise. There’s no canning and waiting process involved! You basically use fresh or frozen strawberries, throw in some lime juice, maple syrup, vanilla extract and chia seeds, and boom, you’ve got strawberry chia jam! I used fresh strawberries to start mine.

What happens is when the chia seeds get heated, those tiny seeds naturally thicken the strawberries into a jelly-like spread.

And what you get as Sonja and Alex call it is “supremely simple homemade preserves.”

You can take this basic idea of the strawberry chia jam, and do it it with blueberries, raspberries, cherries or whatever fruit you’d like. I love that they used lime in there because it gives it a nice tangy punch.

And the cool thing is, you can literally eat it within 15 minutes of starting the recipe. If you store it in the fridge though, it will settle even more when it gets cold. But who can actually wait for that when you smell those strawberries simmering for 15 minutes! I spread it on toast with peanut butter STAT. But you an also use it as a topping for pancakes or waffles, or swirl it on yogurt.

I’m borderline obsessed with this strawberry chia jam fabulousness, and can’t wait to make more recipes from the Pretty Simple Cooking Cookbook!

Strawberry Chia Jam Recipe Excerpted from A Couple Cooks | Pretty Simple Cooking: 100 Delicious Vegetarian Recipes to Make You Fall in Love with Real Food by Sonja Overhiser and Alex Overhiser. Copyright © 2018. Available from Da Capo Lifelong Books, an imprint of Perseus Books, LLC, a subsidiary of Hachette Book Group, Inc.

• 2 cups frozen strawberries*
• 2 Tbsp lime juice plus zest (1 large lime)
• 6 Tbsp pure maple syrup
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 Tbsp chia seeds

Instructions

1. In a small skillet, add the strawberries, lime juice and 2 Tbsp water. Simmer over medium heat for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. About halfway through the simmering time, begin breaking down the berries by smashing them with a fork into a chunky but uniform texture.
2. Once the berries are broken down, stir in the maple syrup, vanilla extract, chia seeds, and lime zest until combined, about 30 seconds.
3. Turn off the heat. Let the skillet sit for about 5-7 minutes until the chia seeds thicken the jam.
4. Transfer to a jar and refrigerate; the texture will set even further when chilled.