I recently talked with Dr. Wayne Coates who had a lot to do with reintroducing chia seeds to the modern diet.

Here is one of his recipes for using chia seeds – and look at what a different recipe this is for mushroom soup!

• 1 pound mushrooms, mixed varieties if possible
• 1 ½ Tbsp butter
• 2 Tbsp safflower oil
• 1 ½ medium yellow or Maui onions, diced
• 1 cup raw cashews, washed in hot water
• 1 ½ Tbsp dry chia seed
• 1 ½ teaspoons dried sweet basil
• 2 cloves garlic, diced
• 2 stalks celery with leaves, diced
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1 teaspoon (scant) tamari
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 medium tomato

Add raw cashews to 5 ½ cups of water and blend until smooth to make 6 ½ cups of cashew nut milk. Add chia seeds and let stand for 15 minutes.

Next, sauté half the mushrooms in safflower oil for 4 minutes. Add nut milk and blend.

Pour mix into saucepan. Sauté onion, celery, and garlic in 1 Tbsp oil with basil and tamari for 4 minutes. Add sautéed vegetables to the liquid mix. Chop remaining mushrooms and add to mix along with cayenne pepper, sesame oil, and salt. Cook for 15 minutes.

Chop tomato and add 1 ½ minutes before serving. Serves 5.