Nutrient powerhouses

In Inside Time’s monthly recipe column, a prison nutritionist provides ideas for creating your own tasty and wholesome dishes

Nationally, there are several types of seeds available for canteens, which could be requested to add to your local canteen sheet: sunflower, pumpkin, chia and flax (also known as linseed). Think of them as natural nutritional supplements, which can make a healthy addition to your meals. That’s because all these seeds are nutrient powerhouses, packed full of vitamins, minerals, healthy fats, antioxidants, protein and fibre – including soluble fibre which not only helps lower cholesterol but is loved by your gut microbes. Flax, chia and pumpkin contain omega-3 fats, which are anti-inflammatory and regarded as the healthiest fats. For all these seeds, a couple of dessert spoons a day is a great way of obtaining the valuable nutrients. Don’t eat too many or you may end up with digestive problems.

Sunflower and pumpkin seeds need no preparation – simply sprinkle over salads and cereals or use in baking. However, flax and chia do need preparation, to ensure that your body can absorb the nutrients and that your gut isn’t irritated. 

Eating whole flax seeds is nutritionally wasteful, since they’re difficult to digest and likely to pass straight through your gut undigested. It’s much better to eat ground flax seeds. Grinding them may be difficult in prison with little in the way of kitchen equipment available. So, unless you have a means of grinding them, it’s better to choose other seed alternatives. 

Chia seeds really need to be soaked for a couple of hours or overnight before eating, in a ratio of 1 volume of seeds to at least 3 volumes of liquid (water, milk, yoghurt or tinned coconut milk). The seeds will swell, and the liquid becomes jelly-like, so they are useful as a means of thickening. The recipe here is for a tasty pudding using chia seeds and no added sugar.

Coconut and Pineapple Chia Pudding 

You’ll need:

• 2 heaped dessert spoons chia seeds;

• ¼ mug of coconut milk; 

• 1 portion of tinned pineapple in natural juice (2 pineapple rings or equivalent in chunks).

How to make it:

1. Mix the chia seeds and coconut milk in a small bowl and stir well. You want it loose, like a thin porridge at this stage.

2. Let it sit somewhere cool for least 30 minutes, after which time it will become thick. 

3. Stir well. Gradually add pineapple juice to bring it back to a thin porridge consistency. Stir well again and leave for at least another hour.

4. Cut pineapple rings into chunks, then either stir in the chunks or pile them on top of the pudding. 

Helen Sandwell is the Inside & Out project lead at Food Matters, which produces the Her Wellbeing and His Wellbeing newsletters. Both are available digitally via Launchpads, Coracle devices and on Virtual Campus.