Vegan Dessert Recipes: Banana Chai Brown Rice Pudding

This was one of the first years in a while when I wouldn't be able to be with my mom for Mother's Day (long story short, you can blame the snow in January). I felt awful, of course, but my mom--bless her heart--wasn't as upset as I was; she told me not to feel bad because, after all, every day is mother's day in her book. And in mine. We made it up with an unofficial celebration, but in the spirit of her as ever correct advice, I realized I could do more to pay regular homage to my mom--and mothers that came before her. I never knew either of my grandmothers, and my mom's mom was famous for her cooking among other things. There are entire meals that my mom and her siblings can narrate the taste and eating experience of down to the spice and temperature, but none of this is written down. Anywhere. Which leaves me neither knowing my grandmother as a woman or via her cooking. Rice pudding is one of her famed recipes, but to be honest those two things never really appealed to me, let alone combined. Whenever I tried it, the too-creamy, too-sweet, gelatinous mixture did not say "comfort food" but rather discomfort for the mind and body. My non-Mother's Day mother's day tribute, then, became finding a way to channel grandma's pudding without any guidance and avoiding personal distaste. Hence this lightly sweetened, chewier-than-creamy, and very healthy "non"-dessert dessert. Here are humble brown rice and bananas thrust into the spotlight, plus my crucial secret ingredient: chai tea. Yes, you'll be eating tea leaves here, but you can think of it more like steeping the rice in your favorite, perfectly spiced beverage that makes you happy and warm inside and out. If that doesn't say Mom, then I don't know what does.