Citrus Wild Blueberry Compote

I recently purchased an enormous bag of chia seeds. I've been incorporating them into smoothies, grinding them into a powder for pancake mix and adding them to yogurt. I'm always trying to think up the next way to get those little extra proteins and omega 3's into foods we eat often. Both of my kids eat fruit.

New idea: compote. 

Wild blueberries are one of my favorite fruits because they can be purchased frozen at a great price (and therefore used all seasons!), are rich in color, flavor, antioxidants and they're adorable. Okay, that last one is true but totally not a prerequisite.

Wild blueberries + chia seeds come together in this recipe to soften the seeds and fruit and marry them both together in perfect harmony. Bam. Power food that the kids might actually eat. The citrus adds a sophisticated flavor that even adults will totally dig.

Ingredients:

2 cups frozen wild blueberries

1/4 cup chia seeds

1/4 cup agave nectar

1 tsp. vanilla

zest of 1/2 orange

Method:

In a small saucepan, add the ingredients and cook down on low until the fruit has completely softened and most of the moisture has evaporated. The fruit should remain in a somewhat whole state, but if you'd like it more preserves-style, cook down and smash the fruit a bit. I like it somewhere in between with some whole fruit pieces and some pureed in. Chia seeds thicken the mixture so if you leave little liquid in your cook down, it will resemble more of a pectin-based preserve (without the pectin) when cooled. Store in a mason jar in the fridge.

Substitutions:

Agave for honey, pure maple syrup, sugar

Orange for any citrus (lemon, lime, clementine - I actually used a mineola)

Chia seeds for flaxseed

This makes a great topper and mix-in for so many things. I've tried it on waffles in the place of syrup and my one-year-old gobbled it up! I've also mixed it into plain Greek yogurt. 

More possibilities: ice cream topper, replacement for pancake syrup, incorporated into pancake batter, smoothie addition, oatmeal topper, replacement for jam/jelly/preserves on toast or in sandwiches, by the spoonful even. It will totally jazz up a brunch spread in that cute and totally trendy mason jar.