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Please raid your pantry and fridge before raiding the supermarkets.

You will be surprised at how much you already have and how far you can go in prepping wholesome meals with just basic ingredients.

Logic eludes when fear takes over. By the same token, the hysteric way we’ve been food shopping over the last couple of weeks is understood.

With that admitted, it is probably time to steer towards a reasonable approach to effectively counteract an open-ended and life-changing world health crisis.

Like the rest of us, I am stuck at home for longer than I wish to be, yet, finally, I have enough time to put my pantry in order.

Avoiding food waste should be our next focus after we stuffed every inch of our closets with food.

Believe it or not, I created a spreadsheet with every single ingredient in my pantry and fridge and planned meals accordingly for the upcoming days and weeks.

My meal plan covered my vegan diet. I am observing lent until April 19th which means in Orthodox faith the pursuit of a strict plant-based diet! It is a clean, healthy diet that is meant to detox the body, mind, and soul.

I take the lent as an opportunity to cut down on carbs and sugar. Yet, sugar cravings are sometimes inevitable. Luckily, culinary creativity renders sweet options a reachable possibility.

A box of oat chocolate milk, sitting untouched in my fridge, sparked the idea of this sweet blog post.

I pulled the cornstarch box, added one tablespoon for each cup of chocolate oat milk, and spiced up my pudding to-be with a dash of ground cloves and a pinch of cinnamon.

For a chocolatey depth of flavor, I added 1/4 cup of Dutch cocoa powder to the mulatto chocolate oat milk.

On the stove, I patiently kept stirring, until the pudding came to a pillowy, wonderful pudding consistency.

Given that the oat drink has a significant sugar hint, I found no urge to add any sweetener to the pudding.

Seeking an Instagram appeal, I opted for a dramatic look. In a non-stick pan I brought together two tablespoons of coconut oil, one tablespoon of brown sugar, and thick slices of banana.

The coconut sizzled, the sugar melted and the mixture coated the banana slices with an irresistible amber-hued crust.

Assembling the dish was as simple as it shows in this clip. An additional few curls of dark chocolate and a sprinkle of unsweetened Dutch cocoa powder will never hurt a chocolate lover (watch the video below).

To be honest, this vegan dessert is a luscious product of my quarantine. It was an effective mood booster for the last couple of days.

It made perfect guilt-free chocolate pudding for “Nermine in Quarantine”, which BTW is the name I chose for my upcoming cooking episodes.

Subscribe to Chez Nermine, and follow the hashtag #nermineinquarantine for more easy recipes that minimize waste in your kitchen.

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Vegan Triple Chocolate Pudding

Recipe created by Nermine Mitry-Mansour 

Serves 4 people

INGREDIENTS

• 4 cups chocolate oat milk
• 4 tablespoons cornstarch, diluted in 1/4 cup of water
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/4 cup unsweetened Dutch cocoa powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

Caramelized Bananas 

• 1 medium banana, thickly sliced
• 2 tablespoons of coconut oil
• 1 tablespoon of light brown sugar
• Pinch of cinnamon

For Decoration 

•  1/4 cup toasted hazelnuts, coarsely crushed
• 2 tablespoons coconut flakes
• 1 tablespoon chocolate curls
• 2 tablespoons unsweetened Dutch powder for sprinkling

DIRECTIONS 

1. Make the pudding.  In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine the chocolate oat milk, spices, and cocoa powder, and stir until all is well incorporated. Add the cornstarch diluted in water. Keep stirring for 15 minutes or until the mixture thickens.  Remove from heat, and pour it into a ramequin or a serving dish. Let it come to room temperature, and then chill in the fridge for at least one hour.
2. Caramelize the banana slices. In a non-stick pan, over low heat, combine the coconut oil and the light brown sugar. When it starts to sizzle, add the banana slices (coated in the cinnamon and sugar mixture). Watch the pan as sugar burns so swiftly. Once the banana slices are coated with a tanned, amber-hued crust, remove and set them aside.
3. Assemble the Dish. On the surface of the chilled pudding, sprinkle the Dutch cocoa powder and decorate with the hazelnut, coconut flakes, and chocolate curls (see video above).
4. Serve it cold.