Middle Eastern Style Rice Pudding
- Gluten-free, protein-rich, nutrient-dense - and only sweetened with date syrup.
I call my food HER when it looks pretty. ‘She pretty!’ And girl, when you add roses 🌹🌸🌺 to anything it just makes a girl happy.
My mom’s rice pudding is a happy place for this Middle Eastern girl. On the heels of Mothers Day, I’ve been thinking about her a lot. She loved to cook, and loved her flowers so this is for her. I just gave it a little ‘rehab’ and boosted the protein, lowered the sugar and made it healthy enough to have for breakfast.
I love dessert for breakfast 😍 and I AM OBSESSED with these beautiful glass jars with the wooden lids and golden spoons I got on Amazon!! Thanks to @kalejunkie for that reco. 😘
Adding these dried rose petals just makes it so much prettier and yes, functional. Did you know that roses have been eaten in the Middle East for thousands of years? They’re rich in antioxidants and help to prevent cardiovascular disease. And they add the most beautiful, subtle essence that feels like a hug from my mom.
🌹Rose petals are also considered an aphrodisiac so just be careful who you share your pudding with, babe. 🤩
This comes together easily and only takes about 30 minutes if you have your rice cooked already. Let me know if you’d like MORE Middle Eastern love. I have many of them in my book, linked in bio.
Ingredients below, recipe on the blog at chefmareya.com. You can make this #vegan by subbing the whey protein for #plantbased based.
And remember, life is short. Eat the pretty food first. 👩🏻🍳🤍xxChefMareya
INGREDIENTS:
- 2 cups water
- 1 cup canned coconut milk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 cup cooked rice (I used basmati but short grain works, too)
- 1 scoop vanilla whey protein powder (I used @gardenoflife
- 1 small banana
- 2 teaspoons date syrup
- Crushed walnuts and unsweetened shredded coconut for topping
- A teaspoon of dried rose petals