Lately, as it has been cabbage season, i’ve been making a lot of coleslaw. Last night i was out of yogurt, so i actually used ACV and mayo: oh my! It was good, but i prefer the yogurt version. This recipe is from my Austin Homestead days, and includes a few local references to my old stomping grounds. It also includes the use of a blender that is currently packed. Lately i’ve been making an “easier” version of this recipe, which i will post soon. For now, though: enjoy this recipe, along with some lovely musings and info about why YOU should love yogurt as much as we do.
Including probiotic foods such as fermented pickles and yogurt is essential to healthy digestion and great for all around good health, including a cheerful mood. I try to always have at least SOME yogurt for breakfast in the morning, plus some hemp or chia seeds, seasonal jam or honey. The protein really keeps us going strong all day without the drowsy effects that eating wheat has. Try having toast before you hit the gym and then have yogurt the next day instead: i’ll bet you’ll be jumping higher on the yogurt day! I make our yogurt every two to four weeks. We buy local milk and I always save enough yogurt from the previous batch to make the next week’s new batch of yogurt (but if i run out, Nancy’s yogurt is a great starter, too.) It’s the most delicious yogurt either my husband or i have ever tasted, and the cost is ridiculously frugal: a quart of White Mountain (a local Austin yogurt company) yogurt will set you back over $5. I turn one gallon of milk into about 5 quarts of yogurt for between 3 and 7 dollars. It’s very easy, doesn’t require any special skills or tools, and has increased our health by leaps and bounds. Immune systems, check! Healther skin and hair, check! Increased energy levels, double check!
Yogurt for breakfast is great. Yogurt in baking is really great, but i really don’t need to be eating more baked goods. So, how can one use yogurt for dinner recipes? Yogurt is great added to a curry or cream sauce. Yogurt can be used as a sauce or dip, and can be incorporated into just about any recipe that would normally use cream, milk, or sour cream. Get creative! You get the most health benefits by not cooking out the good bacterias, so always add the yogurt at the last minute and don’t let it boil.
A recent favorite in our kitchen has been a yogurt sauce/dip. We used it on our nachos on game day, and it’s really, really delicious on fried fish or in fish tacos in place of ranch dressing. Use whatever herb you have growing seasonally, we’ve been using cilantro:
- Plain Yogurt (whole milk yogurt will make a thicker dip, skim is saucier)
- Pinch herbs (cilantro, dill, basil, mint, you name it)
- 3 garlic cloves
- Pinch cumin
- Salt to taste
Blend this up until the garlic cloves are completely chopped. The fresh garlic, and herbs along with the probiotic rich yogurt is a real immunity booster, and super delicious. This sauce is so versatile and can even be added to some shredded cabbage to make the most delicious coleslaw with no fat needed. Great on fish tacos, burgers, salad wraps, the list goes on:
Do you make your own yogurt? What are your favorite yogurt based recipes?
This post is part of the Simple Lives Thursday blog hop!
