Cherry Berry Forbidden Rice Pudding

Cherry Berry Forbidden Rice Pudding

I saw this recipe on one of my favorite blogs "Healthy Girl's Kitchen" and I had to try it. I love rice pudding and I love berries so I imagined it would be a good choice. I was so right.

This is one of those recipes that call for a few things you may not have on hand but it's also a great introduction to some fun new ingredients without a lot of fuss.

Chia seeds are not difficult to find. They are available in the healthy section of most major grocery stores or you can buy just enough for this recipe from the bulk bins at your local health food store. You can read about the benefits of chia seeds here. Here they are used as a thickener/binder and also add their own unique texture to the pudding.


The black rice might be more difficult to find. I was able to find it at my local Giant Eagle and, as luck would have it, they were discontinuing that particular brand and had it at 50% off. It's a bit pricy but for a special occasion this can't be beat. I would like to try this recipe using brown rice and see how it compares. I will say the black rice holds up to the second cooking very well and I imagine the brown might fall apart. If I give that a try I'll update!

Dates are easy to find but you may not have ever cooked with them before. Here they act as a sweetener (I didn't need to use any additional sweetener for my pudding) and they have a wonderful naturally sweet taste which is a perfect combination with the berries.

Check out the recipes here at Healthy Girl's Kitchen
For my version (pictured above) I used frozen cherries and fresh strawberries and blueberries. Play with the types of berries as long as you keep the ratios about the same.

Happy Pudding!