Thursday, January 20, 2011

Thursday Thirteen - Yogurt

A. Catherine Noon and I were discussing our mutual appreciation of yogurt. As a result, I’ve listed thirteen uses for plain, fat free yogurt.

1. Hummus – a tablespoon of tahini (sesame paste), some garlic, 1 tbsp. cumin, and a can of chick peas makes a great, low fat hummus with half a cup of yogurt; I add hot peppers for heat before blending

2. Chicken tikka masala – yogurt makes a fabulous chicken breast marinade with 2 cloves chopped garlic, 1/2-inch cube of freshly chopped ginger root, 2 tsp. ground coriander, and 1/2 tsp. ground garam masala

3. Ginger sauce for salmon – 2 tsp. grated fresh ginger, 1/4 tsp. minced garlic, 1 plum tomato (seeded and chopped), 1/4 tsp. Cumin, 3/4 c. plain non-fat yogurt, 1 thinly sliced green onion, 1 tbsp. chopped fresh mint, Dash red pepper sauce, 1/4 tsp. salt, 1/8 tsp. freshly grated ground pepper

3. Pie crust - 2 C flour, 1 tsp. salt, 2/3 C plain yogurt, 3 to 4 tbsp. cold water; Sift flour, add salt. Cut yogurt into flour using a pastry blender. Add cold water until flour is moistened. Makes two 8 or 9 inch crusts (yogurt substitutes well for shortening and reduces the fat content while it adds nutritional value to your crust and makes it easier to handle)

4. Mixed with a fair amount of hot sauce – it makes a tasty vegetable dip for a heat loving palate

5. Topped with cherries from the freezer department – this is my personal alternative to pricy “fruit-on-the-bottom” containers

6. Sweet potato pie – even the cat approved of Alton Brown’s dessert recipe! You can find it here: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/sweet-potato-pie-recipe/index.html

7. Chicken enchilada casserole – yogurt makes a smooth sauce with a tangy taste (I actually replaced the sour cream and liked the results better); the recipe can be found here: http://southernfood.about.com/od/chickencasseroles/r/bl80118e.htm

8. Sauce for gyros – combine ½ C yogurt with an equal amount of minced and seeded cucumber, 2 tbsp. each freshly chopped mint, cilantro, and green onion, and 1 tbsp. fresh lime juice

9. Blended with dill to taste – this goes great with crusty bread, vegetable trays, and baked fish

10. Sauce for turkey meatballs – mix 1 C plain low-fat yogurt with 1 tsp. finely chopped Italian parsley, 1 tsp. sugar, 2 tbsp. fresh lime juice, 1/8 tsp. salt, 1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper

11.Marinade for lamb – 1 c. firmly packed fresh minced mint, 1/2 C white wine vinegar, 2 tsp. sugar, 1 tbsp. water, 3/4 C plain yogurt, 2 cloves minced garlic

12. Baked chicken - 3 1/2 lb. broiler-fryer chicken cut into serving pieces, 1 C plain yogurt, 1 1/2 tsp. salt, 1/2 tsp. ground cumin, 1/2 tsp. dry mustard, 1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes, 1/4 tsp. ground ginger, 1 clove minced garlic, 1/2 C scallions sliced diagonally in 1-inch pieces including green part; marinate at least eight hours in refrigerator and bake for one hour at 325 degrees Fahrenheit

13. My simple favorite – on a baked potato with a dash of salt and pepper, usually a dollop of hot sauce

16 comments:

  1. I love eating strawberry flavored yogurt for breakfast, and I put almonds in mine for a little crunch. :) Happy Thursday!

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  2. So many of these sound wonderful. Yoghurt is so good for you. Sadly, I'm allergic to milk products, so I have to be careful with it. Sigh.

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  3. If you take the plain yogurt, add some sugar and blend with ice, you get a variation on Indian lassi. Very tasty in the summer!

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  4. Those all sound so good! Love your recipe, too, Kimberly! I love yogurt!

    *hugs*
    Paige

    My TT is at http://paigetylertheauthor.blogspot.com/

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  5. I gotta try that pie crust, and now I feel like making some hummus.

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  6. Damn, woman!!! Those are friggin' awesome! I so wanna go home, right this second, and start experimenting.

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  7. I so want to try that Chicken Tikka Marsala recipe! I've been dying to try Indian cooking.
    Great list!!!!

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  8. My mouth is watering! I adore yogurt. My favorites on this list are Chicken Tikka Masala, Hummus, with fruit and plain yogurt on a baked potato. But I MUST try the hot vegetable dip, salmon ginger sauce, lamb and baked chicken. Don't know why I never thought to try it with gyros.

    Love this list, Darla!

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  9. I honestly cannot say many of these appeal to me -- I'm more of a plain fruit and yogurt type.

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  10. It's fun reading all the great comments. Thanks, dears! Originally intending to do pure facts, I had fun looking up these recipes. It is interesting how the food has several different spellings and exists in numerous cultures.

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  11. Curry! We always use it for curry, and then, well, just to eat with bananas and apples and....by itself. It's all good!

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  12. Great list..I will have to try a few of the ones I haven't.

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  13. Good list! I never knew about some of these. The pie crust sounds intriguing. It'd make pot pies a lot less fatty. Pot pies are good when it's rainy out.

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  14. Mmmmm... pot pie sounds good on this snowy day. Thanks for reading and commenting, DukTape!

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  15. I'm adding a quart of plain yogurt to my shopping list today! Great list.

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  16. That's cool, Dilo! Ironically, I just had some go well past the expiration date. Sigh... Time to go shopping again anyway.

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