Herbed Yogurt Cheese

Making yogurt cheese is simple. While it involves a teeny bit of fuss, like a wet towel and a strainer, you can make it overnight and have it at your disposal for any number of dishes.

It’s great to spread on sandwiches and bagels, add to a baked potato or dollop on some soup. And the great thing is?

It’s healthy.

I use plain fat free yogurt and here is how I make yogurt cheese.

Get one an entire container of fat-free, plain yogurt. Line a mesh strainer with a thin towel. Place it over a deep bowl.

Plop your entire container of yogurt right inside.

Fold the opposite ends over top of each other over the yogurt.

Place a bowl that will fit down over the cheese right over top of the towel and then weight it with a jar of pickles or a large can.

And place the entire thing into your refrigerator…right next to the giant silver pot of chicken stock your husband thawed out to make chicken n dumplings.

Honey?

Where are the chicken n dumplings? This is very sad to me that the chicken n dumplings never appeared. Hmph.

Anyway, leave this overnight and the water and whey (which is really healthy so it’s a shame to waste it!) will drain out of the yogurt leaving it with a cream cheese consistency.

Now you’ll just need to to roll the cheese out of the towel and into a contain or bowl. The towel will be wet so I do it in the sink. Just flip the ends off of it and it will peel right out into the bowl.

Look how nice and thick this is!

Now, at this point, you can do whatever you like with it. You can use it to make dips you might normally use cream cheese with. I’m not sure about cheesecake..that whole baking thing is pretty precise! But it would be fabulous with dips or spreads..

Here is what I did.

I chopped up some fresh herbs from my garden – basil, chives and parsley.  I have a bazillion herbs in my greenhouse it now that we transplanted to the herb garden. I can’t tell you how excited I am when it’s spring time and herbs as are thriving again!

I also peeled one clove of garlic.

Add  all the herbs right into your cheese.

Chop up or press in one clove of garlic.

Also sprinkle a little salt and pepper if you like.

Mix it all up with a large spoon.

It’s really best to let it set for a few hours or even overnight. That way the garlic melds into the cheese as well as the herbs and makes it really kicked-up in flavor.

The possibilities here are endless…what if you added cinnamon, walnuts and honey and made a sweet spread for toast?  You could blend it with sun dried tomatoes or roasted red peppers for a wonderful dip.

This is fantastic spread on a bagel, or in a wrap for a healthier option than mayonnaise or regular cream cheese, and it lends a very satisfying flavor to a sandwich or baked potato when you just feel like you don’t want to miss out on flavor.

Can you think of other ways it would be good to use? Leave a comment below!

Herbed Yogurt Cheese

 

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Prep time

5 mins

Total time

5 mins

 

Serves: 10

Ingredients

• 1 (32 oz) container plain nonfat yogurt
• 2 T. chopped parsley
• 2 T. chopped basil
• 2 T. chopped chives
• 1 clove garlic, minced

Instructions

1. Line a mesh strainer with a thin towel and place the strainer over a fairly deep bowl. Dump yogurt into towel. Fold opposite corners of the towel over top of yogurt. Place bowl over top of yogurt that fits inside of strainer. Place large can or pickle jar on top of bowl to weight it down. Place all into refrigerator for at least 4 hours or overnight. Drain liquid and save for smoothies or discard. Mix chopped herbs and garlic with cheese and let set for at least 4 hours or overnight.

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