AltSweet THEME: Peet's Sells Corn Syrup-Sweetened Berkeley Farms Yogurt

Not sure how a coffee chain known for high quality and purity of product allows itself to sell yogurt with corn syrup in it, but Peet's does sell Berkeley Farms yogurt in its refrigerated in-store cases. There are so many other brands of yogurt that are, at least, using slightly less terrible evaporated cane juice. I don't get it.

SCRUMPTIOUS Saturdays: Super-Quick Olive & Garlic Dip

Wow. This is the easiest thing I've made all year. This dip, with olives, garlic and green onion takes 10 minutes to make, tops.

Equipment: blender, spatula, large glass or ceramic bowl

Ingredients: 1 cup olives (from olive bar); 5-7 garlic cloves, pressed; 2 green onion stalks, diced; 2 cups sour cream (or any combination of sour cream and yogurt you wish); 1 dollop mayonnaise.

Notes: You shouldn't need to add spices because of the amount of garlic, which you can alter up or down. Add the olives and garlic to the blender first, then blend them, then add the sour cream/yogurt and mayo, along with the green onion. The dip should turn a slightly taupe color, especially if you've mixed it up with a variety of olives, including black ones.

PRODUCT Of the Week: Trader Joe's Plain Organic Yogurt

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Versatile, healthy and delicious, and under $4 bucks, TJ's European Style Organic Plain Yogurt, 32 oz. (just a tad creamier than the regular plain yogurt), is great in smoothies, muesli, dips, dressing, sauces--you name it. Perfect for breakfast: small ice-cubes, 1/3 cup plain yogurt, 1 cup fresh raspberries, 1 ripe banana sliced. Blend. Pour into glass. Really good.

SATIATED Saturdays: Quasi-Tzatziki Sauce/Dip

When it gets hot, a cooling dip or sauce can be very refreshing--by itself, or to dress a main dish. I made a quasi-tzatziki sauce (which ended up being more like a cucumber-mint-yogurt sauce) as a dip and dressing. I'll let you know how it tastes, when I make get a roasted chicken and throw some of the sauce on it--should be delicious.

SATIATED Saturdays: Recipe #6 - Fruit Parfait with Yogurt or Soft Tofu

It's simple, yes, and also cheap. It's also really easy to make, and you can make it with dairy, or non-dairy, products. I'm talking about a fruit-parfait.

You will need: a small bowl or large ramekin (there's no rule that says you must put this in a parfait glass, so that you can see the layers--do so if you want, but it's not required); a knife; a spoon, a sharp knife; roasted flaxseeds; chopped nuts or almond slivers; honey or agave; two types of fruits from (roughly) the same family (.e.g. berries or citrus); perhaps one kind of dried fruit, like golden raisins or figs or dates;  plain yogurt or silky (soft) tofu; oats (either steel-cut or raw flakes).


I like to chop up the fruit first (so for instance, strawberries and apples go nicely together (leave the apple skins on), add either plain yogurt or silky tofu -- enough to cover the fruit at the bottom. Then, I add another layer of fruit, a little more yogurt or tofu, top with the nuts, oats, flaxseed and a few teaspoonfuls of either honey or agave (or real natural maple syrup with no added sugar). Mix-up and serve. It's especially good for a hot summer's day, when cooking is out of the question.