Upon my friend Maryanne's suggestion, Desmond and I had lunch yesterday at the gigantic new Whole Foods in El Segundo. As I wandered the sparkling aisles looking for nutritional yeast and tahini, I found 6 bins of dried chilies, bins and bins of beautiful produce that was labeled as local and organic, a wine bar, a small children's play area (!), a sushi bar and an Argentinian lunch counter with two kinds of vegan empanadas, and a pudding bar. A pudding bar!! I started doing a little dance inside as I scanned the varieties with their clearly labeled ingredients. Surely with 9 different kinds of pudding, there...will..be...(milk)...one...(milk)...for... (milk)...me, but no, not a one. As I kicked a rock and walked away, not even the huge neighboring diplay of vegan sorbets could satisfy me. I wanted a creamy childhood treat. I wanted pudding. I decided, however, to be the tiniest bit adult about it and attempt to finish my shopping. As I tried the baking aisle for the aforementioned elusive health food items, I came across a box of organic tapioca with a recipe on the side for a coconut pudding containing no eggs. Victory. I headed to the check out line with three bottles of wine, a bamboo spoon, and nothing on my shopping list.
While you will still find me experimenting with pureed tofu and various thickeners to try to recreate the tapioca pudding of my youth, this is a good, easy, coconutty vegan version:
Coconut Tapioca Pudding (adapted from the box of Let's Do Organic Tapioca)
2 c. water
3 Tbsp. small Tapioca pearls
3 Tbsp. sugar
tiny pinch of salt
3/4 c. coconut milk
In a saucepan, bring the water to a boil, and add the tapioca pearls. Turn the heat down to medium-low and allow the tapioca to simmer for 17 minutes. Periodically stir with a whisk or fork to prevent the balls from sticking to one another. In a seperate bowl, whisk the sugar, salt, and coconut milk. At the end of 17 minutes, whisk the coconut mixture into the tapioca. Once it has returned to a simmer, allow it to continue cooking for 5 more minutes. Stir and chill.
