May 18, 2017

Strawberry Rhubarb Chia Jam

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Okay, so… I get it. You’re maybe not Mr or Ms Suzy Homemaker. Maybe the best you can do is to make things out of packages. That’s cool.

But let’s say you really want to impress someone. Maybe you’re going to a friend’s house and you want to bring a hostess gift, or maybe you’ve got people coming over for brunch.

What you need is the world’s easiest, laziest, most klutz-proof strawberry rhubarb jam recipe.

Jam is a tricky business. There is fruit, sure. But there’s also this magical substance called pectin (what even is that, right?), sugar, and often lemon juice, which are all cooked down together in a giant, simmering vat. And that’s just the cooking part. Then you have to put it into jars and preserve it, and if you don’t do that right, will you kill everyone who eats it?

Yeah, jam can be complicated. But this one is not.

It’s not, thanks to the miracle of the chia seed.

Chia has been quite the thing for the last few years. And yes, in case you were wondering, they are the same seeds you used to grow on your Chia Pet (“Ch-Ch-Ch-Chia!”). They are beloved by vegetarians and paleos alike because they are gluten-free and high in protein. You’ll often find them in smoothies and puddings, which can be eaten either at breakfast or for dessert.

Because of their magical properties to suck up immense amounts of moisture and turn it into a kind of gel, chia is amazing for thickening stuff. Like jam. In this case.

Just 5 ingredients, real simple, very satisfying results.