No-Sugar-Added Chocolate Chia Seed Pudding

3 cups unsweetened almond milk, coconut milk blend (such as Almond Breeze)

2/3 cup organic chia seeds

½ cup + 2 tablespoons unsweetened, Dutch-processed cocoa powder

1 tablespoon vanilla

10 packets organic stevia

¼ teaspoon sea salt

Add all the ingredients to a blender and blend until smooth and creamy, about 30 to 45 seconds; depending on your blender's power (I use a Ninja Ultima). *Start out at a slow speed and slowly increase the speed.

Pour the pudding into four 2-cup bowls and refrigerate. (To keep the top of the pudding from forming a crust, press plastic wrap into the surface. Makes 4, 1¼-cup servings.

Nutrition values per serving: 253 calories (52 percent from fat), 14.7 g fat (3.1 g saturated fat), 20.1 g carbohydrates, 0 g sugars, 15.4 g fiber, 9.1 g protein, 0 mg cholesterol, 248 mg sodium.

Notes: This can be made with all organic ingredients; you'll have to buy unsweetened almond milk and unsweetened coconut milk separately and go half-and-half. Or, you may simply use all unsweetened almond milk.

If you have raw cacao nibs available, try grinding up 1/8-cup of the nibs in an electric spice or coffee grinder for 15 to 20 seconds until the nibs look like sand. Add 2 more stevia packets to the pudding.

Don Mauer