Making Yogurt into a Yummy Spread for Bagels

Confession. I have a “thing” for the Roots and Harvest yogurt maker. I don’t know if it’s the cute little jars or the fact that I can set a timer and a temperature and walk away. When the time goes off, voila! Yogurt in a cute little glass cup, the perfect portion size.

The other day I was making yogurt. The final product was fine, but I wanted something a little thicker, like Greek yogurt. I remembered I had purchased the Greek yogurt strainer from Roots and Harvest, so I pulled it out. My 3-year-old granddaughter was visiting me and wanted to “help.” I asked her to dump the jars of yogurt into the strainer. She was very pleased with the assignment and gleefully emptied every single container.

I left the yogurt to strain, and my granddaughter watched as the whey dripped through the strainer. It wasn’t long and I went to test the thickness of the yogurt. It was perfect! Nice and thick with a great flavor.

I scraped the dense yogurt out of the strainer and put it into a glass dish. I contemplated what kind of spread would taste best on the sourdough bagels I had just pulled from the oven. Savory? Sweet? A decision was made…A little salt, a little pepper… and some “everything bagel” seasoning. As soon as the sourdough bagels were cool enough, I sliced one of them in two and lathered the yogurt spread on top, making sure to fill all the nooks and crannies.

My granddaughter had been carefully watching this whole process of playing with food. She looked at me hesitantly as I handed her the tiniest piece of bagel with yogurt spread… Because, you know, she’s 3 and wary of any new food item! She took the teeniest, tiniest nimble and declared it yummy! For sure a win for this Nana!

Such a simple nutritious spread, a no-guilt spread to go on just about anything!

My favorite, for those who’d like to give this yogurt spread a try. Everything you need is on a single page on the Roots and Harvest website. The yogurt starter, the yogurt maker, and the strainer are all together. No time lost flipping through “pages” trying to find it all.

And here’s a little tip I discovered when a couple of the yogurt jars were accidentally thrown away, baby food jars work great as replacements and so do half pint canning jars.

I’d love to hear what you think, if you give this a try and what spices or herbs you used for your yogurt spread!