A Quick, Hot, Comforting, Nutritious Low Carb Breakfast: Chia Breakfast Custard

I've been playing with chia seeds recently, looking for new and tasty ways to consume these little nutrient powerhouses. I've come up with a breakfast custard that's delicious, filling, and super-quick -- if you put your chia seeds in to soak the night before, you can have a hot breakfast in five minutes flat. And for those of you ramping up your fat to stay in nutritional ketosis, it's nice to know that once you subtract out the fiber, this gets 88% of its calories from fat. Here's how:

Chia Breakfast Custard

2 tablespoons chia seeds
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 egg yolk
liquid stevia extract
1 pinch salt

This recipe turns on one simple act of preparation: The evening before, put two tablespoons of chia seeds in a small bowl and stir in the water. Stick 'em in the fridge, and go to bed.

Okay, it's morning. Grab a cup of coffee or tea, and pull your chia seeds out of the fridge. Stir them up with a fork, to break up clumps.

Pour your cream into a glass measuring cup. Now add the egg yolk -- throw the white into the dog's breakfast. Life's too short to spend worrying about creative things to do with the leftover egg white. Use your fork to stir the cream and the egg yolk together quite well. Stir in the liquid stevia extract and the salt -- I used 10 drops each of French Vanilla (NOW brand) and English Toffee (Sweet Leaf brand).

Now pour the cream-and-yolk mixture into your chia seeds, and stir the whole thing up with your fork, again, breaking up any clumps. Makes sure you stir all the way down to the bottom -- it helps to use a glass custard cup you can see through, so that you can spot any clumps of unincorporated chia seed.

Put your chia custard in the microwave and give it 1 minute on power 5. Stir it, and give it one more minute, again on power 5. Done!

I add a handful of sugar-free chocolate chips to mine, but that's up to you. A drizzle of sugar-free pancake syrup might be nice, or a dusting of cinnamon.

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1 serving with: 408 Calories; 36g Fat (77.8% calories from fat); 9g Protein; 14g Carbohydrate; 10g Dietary Fiber; 4g usable carb