Gluten-Free Chia Protein Bites

Lupini beans.

Among all the beans that I've ever eaten, lupini beans are the strangest. Even when cooked, they have a tough bite and texture and for some reason they taste somewhat... cheesy. Awkward. The first time I tried them was in this chili recipe (I used them in place of the lima beans).

So because of my first impression of the bean, a jar of lupini beans have been sitting in my fridge for a long, long time. But here I am again, switching ingredients in another recipe:

Chia seed protein bites! They are so cute. ^_^

This time, I used the lupini beans in place of the cannellini beans this recipe called for. The result was a success and I was so happy! Unfortunately, I didn't use enough sweetener so the bites turned out very plain. I'll make this again next time when I have a new bottle of agave syrup. ;)
This recipe is brought to us by Made Just Right, the community-friendly website owned by the Earth Balance brand. Click here for the recipe.

Chia seeds look like teenie, speckled eggs. =)

Chia seeds are a wonderful source of fiber, calcium, manganese, phosphorus, and omega-3's and 6's. The seeds are also known to add volume in our stomach which helps keep us full for a while.
The nutrition info below represents the use of maple syrup as a sweetener and Vega One Vanilla Chai as the chai protein powder. Let me know what you used and I can always calculate more accurate estimations for you.

Nutrition Facts per Bite
(makes about 30 bites)

Calories: 87
Fat: 4.4g
Carbs: 8.4g
Protein: 3.8g
Fiber: 3.1g
Sugar: 2.1g
Calcium: 68.9g

Pretty hefty but nutritious stuff for one little bite! They sure make a great snack for recovering after working out. Now that I think about it, I ate much more than just one...