Healthy Yogurt Dip
If you love vegetables, or, if you’re like many of us, and you’d like to start substituting fresh fruit and veggies for some of the “less healthy” snacks you’ve been eating lately, consider making this dip to go with it! I made a veggie crudités today with cauliflower, celery, carrots, radishes, cauliflower, and broccoli. I really wanted some of that yummy green onion dip you find in the store; you know, the one you make with sour cream? But I opted to make this dip instead. And it turned out wonderfully. Hope you enjoy it.
For this recipe you’ll need: (for a large batch)
2 cups yogurt (low fat is great but I don’t recommend fat free—it’s too watery)
Zest of ½ a lemon
¼ cup fresh parsley, chopped
3 Tablespoons fresh chives, chopped (can substitute 2 TB dried chives)
2 tsp. kosher salt
¼ tsp. black or white pepper
optional: juice of ½ a lemon (it will be lemony)
To make this dip:
First, you’ll want to line a bowl with 2-3 paper towels or some cheesecloth. Spoon the yogurt onto the napkins or cheesecloth and refrigerate for 1 hour to overnight. This allows the water to drain from the yogurt, making it seem like sour cream.
Put the drained yogurt into a bowl and add the lemon zest, parsley, chives, salt, and pepper. Stir to combine.
*If you’d like you can change the herbs or omit the lemon. Basil would work great in this for a different sort of taste. You can add garlic (dried or fresh), onion (again, dried or fresh) or just about anything you want to this.
**Make a sweet alternative by omitting the added ingredients above and instead add honey and a splash of orange juice. Great for fruit.