Cardamom Scented Plum Chia Jam (no sugar or pectin added!) – peace. love. quinoa
Oct 04
Is it confession time? The answer is yes.
After being at wine fest in Palisade 2 weekends ago, I have been straight up addicted to cheese, crackers, jam, and honey…. oh, and wine. Local, Colorado wine. Sigh.
For dinner lately, I crave the local Strawberry Rhubarb jelly I brought home from the Western Slope, slathered on crackers, topped off with Syrah Soaked Toscano Cheese // to compliment, a bottle of red wine that came home with me from Colorado’s Wine Country.
Guilt overwhelms me when I sit unaccompanied on the couch with a spread of cheese, crackers, and jellies, feeding pure pleasure. In my mind, I know that cheese & crackers do not make up a balanced meal, but my selfish tastebuds ask for one more bite, one more night, over and over again and I succumb.
I’ve got 1.5 blocks of cheese left in the fridge (including a brie that I would love to use for this recipe) I’m going to finish and then I’m going to walk away from dairy cheese for a while (thank goodness for treenut cheese). STAY STRONG CRISTA.
While visiting the Farmer’s Market a few days ago, I silently celebrated when I found one of my favorite Palisade farmers selling stone fruits this late in the season because I’d recently stumbled upon this recipe for a “Cheater’s Chia Blood Plum Jam.”
It was fun to adapt this recipe slightly and use it as an alternative to the sugary jams I’ve been consuming (in large quantities) with my cheese and crackers. Since making it, I’ve also used it atop a whole wheat bagel, paired with pumpkin cream cheese (THANK YOU TRADER JOES).
Appropriately labeled “cheater,” this jam is easy, easy to make and requires very few ingredients (no sugar or pectin!) If you can mash fruit with a fork or a food processor and mix a few ingredients in a bowl, you can make this jam. It took me all of 5 minutes to prepare, and then another hour to set before being ready to eat. If plums aren’t your jam (ha! get it? your “jam..”), then you can use peaches, blackberries, strawberries, or raspberries. If cardamom doesn’t satisfy your taste crave, then substitute with nutmeg or cinnamon. If you prefer your jam to be more tart, then don’t add the sweet agave nectar. If you like your jam on the sweeter side, add more agave or honey than what the recipe calls for.
Cardamom Scented Plum Chia Jam (no sugar or pectin added!)
Author: peace. love. quinoa
Ingredients
- 5-6 small ripe plums, chopped and pitted
- 2 tbsp. chia seeds
- ¼ tsp. vanilla extract
- a pinch of ground cardamom
- 1 tsp. honey or agave nectar (optional)
Instructions
- In a food processor, puree the ripe plums. Alternately, mash the plums with a fork until they are broken up and juicy.
- By hand, stir in the chia seeds, vanilla extract, cardamom, and honey or agave nectar.
- Transfer to a covered bowl or a mason jar and allow to set in the refrigerator for about 1 hour.
- This jam can be stored in the refrigerator for about 1 week. Alternately, you can freeze the jam until you are ready to consume.
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