Chocolate Pudding with Olive Oil & Sea Salt

As I mentioned in the Keyless Lime Pie post, I am not normally a fan of diet recipes. However, Cook This, Not That isn't REALLY a diet cookbook. It's more about presenting alternatives. After a handful of friends (all of whom were dubious about eating a diet pie), gave the pie, and the book an enthusiastic thumbs up, I excitedly moved on to my next calorie-challenged treat: Chocolate Pudding with Olive Oil & Sea Salt.

This recipe is a dream for a chocoholic. It is comprised of items found in almost any pantry, is uncomplicated to make and tastes SUPERB.

To make your own chocolate pudding at home, you will need the following:

1/4 cup sugar

2 Tablespoons cornstarch

2 cups low-fat milk

1 Tablespoon unsalted butter

4 oz. bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped

1 Teaspoon vanilla extract

Pinch of salt to mix in, and course sea salt (I used fleur de sel) to garnish

Drizzle of olive oil

Combine the sugar and cornstarch in a medium saucepan over low heat. Slowly whisk in the milk. Bring the liquid to a simmer, and then stir in the butter, chocolate, vanilla, and pinch of table salt. Remove the pan from heat, and continue stirring until the chocolate has melted completely. Pour into 4 small glasses or ramekins and place in the refrigerator for 2 hours to set.

Before serving, drizzle each pudding pot with olive oil and sea salt.

In case you are wondering, this dessert weighs in at the following:
310 calories
19 g fat
(10 g saturated fat)
29 g sugars

Which is pretty good- if you are comparing it to Dairy Queen's 900-calorie Chocolate Malt. Which, they are...

Happy reading, happy eating!