Cooking With Yogurt

At my house, yogurt is a snack food, a dessert or something to be mixed in a smoothie. But as Martha Rose Shulman explains in this week’s Recipes for Health, yogurt can add flavor and texture to a number of savory dishes. She writes:

In countries where yogurt is part of the culinary landscape, it’s used in many savory dishes. I love the way it contrasts with spicy foods in India and is served, spiked with pungent garlic, as a cool topping with many hot dishes in Turkey and the Middle East.

To thicken yogurt, simply put it into a cheesecloth-lined strainer set over a bowl and refrigerate for several hours. Or buy already thick Greek yogurt or lebna in Middle Eastern markets. But whatever you do, buy organic yogurt that has only two ingredients on the label: milk and live active cultures. I used plain low-fat (not nonfat) yogurt in this week’s recipes; full-fat yogurt will work too, but nonfat is too watery and often quite sour.

Here are five new ways to cook with yogurt.

Turkish Hummus With Yogurt: This dish is much like the familiar Middle Eastern chickpea purée, but instead of tahini, the chickpeas are blended with yogurt.

Grilled Albacore With Yogurt-Dill Sauce on a Bed of Arugula: Based on a recipe for red mullet from “Classic Turkish Cooking” by Ghillie Basan.

Mache Salad With Yogurt Dressing: The mild, subtle mâche, also known as lamb’s lettuce, contrasts nicely with the sharp, pungent garlic-spiked yogurt.

Summer Squash, Tahini and Yogurt Dip: From Paula Wolfert’s book “The Cooking of the Eastern Mediterranean,” a simple combination of cooked squash, drained yogurt, garlic and tahini that proves you can make yogurt dips with just about any vegetable.

Eggplant, Bulgur and Tomato Casserole with Yogurt Topping: A vegetarian moussaka, with bulgur standing in for meat.