Yoghurt has become so versatile. You can stir it, set it, drink it, cook with it, add fruits to it, flavour it, add it to your protein shake and just be creative. It is made of whole, semi-skimmed or skimmed milk, with or without added sugars… You get my point, right? 😛 You can even use it in summer and winter!
The best part is that it is filled with nutrients and even helps reduce cardiometabolic risk factors (Cardiometabolic risk refers to your chances of having diabetes, heart disease or stroke).
I use Danone Nutriday Smooth Yoghurt which is a source of 5 nutrients. One of those sources is Vitamin A which is necessary for normal vision / for the maintenance of good vision.
Do you know that Vitamin A can protect your eyes from night blindness? Yoghurt contains vitamin A as well as the mineral zinc. Vitamin A protects the cornea while zinc helps bring that vitamin to the eyes from the liver. Zinc is found throughout the eye, especially the retina and choroid, which is the vascular tissue that lies under the retina. This important mineral helps with night vision as well as the prevention of cataracts.
Remember, too little and too much vitamin A can also have negative effects on you.
We buy at least 3 packs of yoghurt a week for the kids and a big tub for cooking.
Yes, cooking and baking! We even eat yoghurt as a salad/side with some of our dishes….
Honestly, there are so many different dishes that you can make with yoghurt. I found 5 amazing recipes online to try and see if they really do work!
5 EASY RECIPES YOU NEED TO TRY USING YOGHURT.
1. Orange Yoghurt cake
Ingredients
· 125g butter
· 1/2 cup castor sugar
· Rind of 1 large orange
· 3/4 cup yoghurt
· 1 tsp orange extract (pictured)
· 1 1/2 cups self-raising flour
· 1/4 tsp bicarb
Method
1. Preheat your oven to 180 degrees.
2. Line a 20cm round tin.
3. Cream the butter and sugar.
4. Add the orange rind and yoghurt.
5. Add 1/2 tsp of the orange extract
6. Sift in flour and bicarb and mix well.
7. Bake for 25-30 mins.
2. Butter Chicken
Ingredients
· 1 chicken disjointed or 1kg fillet cut in cubes or strips
· 1 tblsp ginger garlic paste
· 1/2 cup yoghurt
· Handful fried onions
· 1 sachet tomato paste
· 1 tsp salt
· 1 tsp turmeric powder
· 1 tsp crushed red chillies
· 1 tsp tandoori spice
· 2 tsp crushed dhania coriander (powder)
· 1 tsp crushed jeera (powder)
· 100g butter
· 1 cup fresh cream
Method
1. Marinate chicken with all the ingredients besides the fresh cream.
2. Heat the butter and add the marinated chicken.
3. Cook on medium heat for 35 minutes.
4. Add the fresh cream and cook for a further five minutes.
5. Serve with roti or rogni naan.
3. Pizza
Ingredients:
· 1 cup Greek yoghurt (buttermilk or plain yoghurt).
· 2 cups self-raising flour.
Method:
1. Add yoghurt & make a soft dough.
2. Let dough stand for 10 to 15 mins.
3. Roll thin out & blind bake for 8 -10 mins at 180 degrees.
4. Add the topping on & bake until the cheese has melted.
4. Cheese scones
Ingredients:
· 3cups of self-raising flour
· 1tbs baking powder
· Pinch of salt
· 2tsp sugar
· 1and 1/2 cups plain yoghurt
· 1 cup cheese
Method:
1. Add dry ingredients first then yoghurt and cheese.
2. Bake for 15 mins at 180 degrees.
5. Lamb chops in yoghurt
Ingredients:
· 1kg lamb chops
· 2 cloves minced garlic
· 3/4 cup plain yoghurt
· 2 teaspoons chilli powder
· 1 teaspoon tumeric powder
· 1 onion grated or finely chopped
· 2 tomatoes grated
· 2 teaspoons black pepper
· Salt to taste
Method:
1. Marinate chops in above ingredients for an hour.
2. Heat two tablespoons of oil add two cinnamon sticks and add chops with any leftover marinade and cook on medium heat for approximately 30 minutes. Or until chops are tender. Garnish with coriander.
These are easy recipes that won’t take you hours in the kitchen and have been tried and tested by many already.
The best part is that you are still getting the vitamins you need (especially vitamin A) while indulging in some home cooked healthy food!
The next time that you cook, think about the ingredient’s that you are using and the nutrition value that it has. Think about strong eyes, strong energy, strong mind, strong bones, and a strong heart.
Stay Strong every day with NutriDay.
You will understand what I mean when you watch the video below. ????
Recipe credits: Faye Pramraj (Orange yoghurt cake), Jameela Sayed (Butter chicken) Virasha Ramautar (2-Ingredient pizza), Faieka Groenmeyer (Cheese scone) and Sureka Jaichund (Lamb chops) from Grey Street Casbah Recipes (Durban).
