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🍅 Chia: Enhanced Cherry Tomato Salsa (Recipe)

bgibson135

Servings: 1
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Chill Time: 20–30 minutes
Total Time: ~30 minutes

Ingredients

  • ½ cup (125 g) cherry tomato sauce (Italiano brand or similar)
  • 1 tablespoon chia seeds
  • 1½ tablespoons finely diced sweet onion
  • 1–2 teaspoons finely diced jalapeño (to taste)
  • 1 small pinch ground garlic (⅛ teaspoon or less)
  • 1 small pinch ground cumin
  • 1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
  • ½–1 teaspoon agave nectar (adjust to taste)

Instructions

  1. In an 8 oz. Ball/Mason jar, combine the cherry tomato sauce and chia seeds.
  2. Stir in the diced onion, jalapeño, ground garlic, ground cumin, and chopped cilantro.
  3. Add agave nectar in a small amount and stir until fully blended.
  4. Add lid and tighten, shake to blend.
  5. Place the jar in your refrigerator and let sit for 20–30 minutes to allow the chia seeds to hydrate and thicken the mixture.
  6. Taste and adjust seasoning if needed.
  7. Serve as a thick salsa, a spread, or a topping, or eat from the jar, with some blue corn tortilla chips.

📊 Estimated Nutrition (entire recipe)

Calories

  • Tomato sauce (½ cup): 60 kcal
  • Chia seeds (1 tbsp): 58 kcal
  • Sweet onion (1.5 tbsp): 6 kcal
  • Jalapeño (1–2 tsp): 1–2 kcal
  • Agave (½–1 tsp): 10–21 kcal
  • Cilantro + spices: ~1 kcal

Estimated Total:
👉 135–148 calories, depending on how much agave you used.

Macros (approx.)

  • Carbohydrates: 18–20 g
    • Fiber: 6–7 g
    • Sugars: 6–8 g
  • Fat: 3–4 g
  • Protein: 3 g

Very high fiber and low glycemic load — excellent for blood sugar.

Optional Add-Ins (not part of the main recipe)

  • ½ tablespoon lime juice for brightness
    • It did make this pudding brighter.
  • A pinch of turmeric + black pepper
    • Slipping in some turmeric (the black pepper increases the absorption of the key ingredient in the turmeric) with black pepper doesn’t take away from this pudding.
  • A few sliced black olives
  • 1 tablespoon diced red bell pepper
    • This would have been a nice addition.
  • A sprinkle of smoked paprika
  • A few drops of hot sauce if you want more heat
    • Some chipotle sauce would make this pudding distinctive. The pudding almost becomes a salza.

✔ How it fits in an 8-oz (1 cup) Ball jar

Your mixture is:

  • ½ cup cherry tomato sauce
  • All the add-ins
  • 1 tablespoon chia seeds (which expand but don’t double the total volume)

After hydration, the whole recipe makes about ¾ cup — sometimes slightly more, depending on how much onion and jalapeño you add.

👉 It will fit in an 8-oz jar with room to spare
(about 1–2 oz of headspace).

That extra headspace is ideal because:

  • it lets you shake it if needed,
  • prevents overflow when the chia thickens,
  • makes it easy to stir before eating.

✔ Instructions for the jar version

In the 8-oz Ball Jar:

  1. Add ½ cup cherry tomato sauce.
  2. Add 1 tablespoon chia seeds.
  3. Add all remaining ingredients:
    • Sweet onion
    • Jalapeño
    • Ground garlic
    • Ground cumin
    • Cilantro
    • Agave
  4. Put lid on tightly and shake several times.
  5. Let sit 20–30 minutes, shaking once halfway through.
  6. Chill and eat directly from the jar.