Chocolate chia pudding extravaganza

Chia puddings or overnight oats has been a blogger and foodie favourite for some time now. I'm only just getting into the thing, as my first test drives of the luxury breakfast were done in Thailand a couple of months back, inspired by Minimalist baker. Back then I served (or who am I kidding: ate. There was only me, devouring the whole thing) the pudding with fresh fruits. This time, as I was also making a chocolate cake for the day, I made my mom and me ridiculously wonderful breakfast treats out of the said chocolate chia pudding, whipped coconut cream, fresh strawberries and crushed nuts.

Yes, it was awesome. No, there isn't anything left. And yes, also the aforementioned cake is gone. But more about that beauty in the next post. But if you don't want to make a dessert-y breakfast thing, the pudding is also lovely by itself, although it does tend to get a bit lonely without at least some berries or fruit on top. Or granola.

The original recipe called for almond milk as the liquid, but I've made it with coconut milk (dilute with water if you don't want yours to be super rich) and this time, as I was running out of everything, I used a very interesting mixture of coconut water, yoghurt and the liquid left over from a coconut milk can when the solid white part has been scooped out to make coconut whipped cream. Not for the faint of heart!

Overnight chocolate chia pudding

(original recipe here)

1 1/2 cups (360 ml) almond milk / any veggie milk (coconut/cashew/hazelnut...)

1/3 cup chia seeds

1/4 cup cacao powder

2-5 tbsp maple syrup/honey 

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/2 tsp vanilla powder/extract

Add all ingredients except sweetener to a mixing bowl and whisk to combine. Sweeten to taste.

 Let rest covered in the fridge overnight. Leftovers keep in the fridge for 2-3 days.

Serve chilled with desired toppings. 

Sweet potatoes meet avocado pea mash, feta and eggs

After going gluten free I've rarely had anything toasted. This recipe from Tuulia was originally called "sweet potato toast", which made me quite excited. A toast with lots of super yummy toppings, in this case, feta cheese, a light and fresh puree out of avocados and peas plus runny, gooey eggs sounded like heaven to me. So I got to work. And wonderful it was, indeed! The toast aspect didn't really come across, though, but I still almost licked the plate. So no harm done. Just out of principle, though, I'm not going to call these "toast". Like I refuse to call stuff piled on a salad "a hamburger". Anyhow, these babies are delish as breakfast, lunch or dinner. Or a snack. Probably not as dessert. Or maybe, with some caramel sauce?

As I am queen of "more toppings and sauce than the actual main ingredient, please", you can't really see the poor sweet potato slices, hiding under the pile of yumminess. But rest assured, it is there. And it is delicious!

The original recipe didn't add salt on the sweet potatoes while roasting them, but if I were to do this recipe a second time (which I probably will, as it was really really yum) I'd add salt. And maybe some mint to the puree/mash. Just as a tip!

Sweet potato slices, avocado pea mash, feta and eggs

serves 4

1-2 sweet potatoes
2-3 tbsp olive oil
a few handfuls of baby spinach (or other leafy greens)
Avocado Pea Mash, for serving
sheep feta cheese, crumbled
4 organic eggs
salt & black pepper
fresh herbs or sprouts

Avocado pea mash

1 big ripe avocado
1 1/2 cups / 200g fresh or thawed peas
1/2 lemon, juiced
3 tbsp olive oil
salt & black pepper
a bit of water, if needed
(optional: some mint leaves)


Preheat the oven to 200 C°. Wash the sweet potato thoroughly, peel if you're so inclined and cut it into about 2 cm slices lengthwise. Cover a baking tray with parchment paper and place the sweet potatoes on the baking tray. Sprinkle with olive oil (and salt). Bake for about 15-20 minutes, until the sweet potatoes are soft. Prepare the avocado pea mash and the eggs in the meantime.

Add all the avocado pea mash ingredients to a blender (or use a hand mixer) and pulse/mix until relatively smooth with some bits left. Add a bit of water, if needed. Add salt and black pepper to taste.

Boil the eggs for about 4 to 5 minutes, so that the yolk remains runny. 

When the sweet potatoes potatoes are ready, remove them from the oven. Place the slices on plates and top with spinach, avocado pea mash, crumbled feta cheese and the eggs. Sprinkle some fresh herbs on top too. Serve straight away and enjoy!

Transformation and kick-ass granola

So, I'm back from my trip to Asia. The last weeks were mainly spent drooling in various food blogs and thinking about changing the name and language of my blog to better reflect the new me who's behind the screen now. And voilá: from the ashes of Pata ja Kattila, Delicananda was born! Recipes and musings about food in English, experiments in the kitchen, tales of travels and all that jazz. Welcome!

After landing in Finland and getting to my mom's recently redone kitchen I was almost delirious with happines. I get to cook and bake again! Yipypiyippeeee! So, without further ado or adon't, let's get to it. The first thing I made and the first recipe of the new and improved blog I'm sharing with you is... *drumroll, please* A BREAKFAST GRANOLA! The inspiration is from one of my favourite blogs ever, Syötävän hyvä, namely these two posts. I've never made granola myself before, so now was the high time. And it turned out awesome!

The marriage of delicious nuts, seeds and flakes, roasted in the oven into crunchy perfection. Just try it! Plain out of the jar a a snack or sprinkled into your favourite type of yoghurt. These would also work wonders in a chia pudding or a topping for an ice cream. The possibilities are endless!

Crunchy granola

0,5 dl buckwheat flakes

0,5 dl millet flakes (can be subbed with oat/quinoa...)

2 dl nut mix (e.g. cashews, almonds, brazil nuts, pecans...)

0,5 - 1 dl seed mix (I used peeled hemp seeds, sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds)

3 tbsp coconut oil

2 tbsp maple syrup

1 tbsp cinnamon

1 egg white

Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl. Add wet ingredients and mix until you get an evenly distributed, sticky looking mixture. Spread out on a baking sheet lined with baking paper and roast in 175 degrees for about 20 minutes, or until the nuts have started to get a little colour and the texture is getting crunchier. Mix a couple of times during the roasting. Cool and store in an airtight container. Use in every way imaginable!