Sun-dried tomato and garlic dip
By: Evi Skoura
Published: Sunday, September 7, 2014 - 2:02pm

Ingredients




3 cups Greek strained yogurt, 2% fat
1 large head garlic
3 tbsp. grated parmesan
1 ½ tsp. fresh lemon juice
½ tsp. chili powder
½ cup oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, patted dry
1 tsp. olive oil from the sun-dried tomatoes jar
3 tbsp. fresh parsley, finely chopped
salt and pepper, to taste

Preparation

1 Drain yogurt in refrigerator for 8 hours. 2 Preheat oven to 200o C (400o F). Cut ½ cm off top of garlic, exposing cloves. Wrap well in aluminum foil. Bake it for 1 hour. Remove garlic from foil and let it cool. Squeeze roasted garlic pulp off skins into a bowl. 3 Add yogurt cheese, parmesan, lemon juice, chili powder and tahini. 4 In a food processor, combine sun-dried tomatoes and olive oil with 1 tablespoon of cold water and puree until mixture forms a paste. 5 Stir tomato paste into yogurt mixture and season with salt and pepper. 6 Cover and refrigerate until serving time. 7 Serve sprinkled with chopped parsley. 8 Nutritional info/tablespoon: about 21 cal, 2 g protein, 2 g carbohydrates, 3 g fat, 0 g fiber.

About

The Sun-dried tomato and garlic dip is based on Greek yoghurt, which replaces equally mayonnaise, cream cheese, ricotta, or whatever you use as a base in dips, having far fewer calories and more calcium. Yogurt is also an excellent source of animal protein of high biological value, which is more digestible than milk, which is attributed to changes caused mainly by fermentation.
The base, therefore, is yogurt cheese , which is very easy to prepare. All you need is a strainer, a bowl and a few pieces of gauze or tulle. Attach the strainer over the bowl, then lay the gauze and add the amount of yogurt required in your recipe. Tighten the gauze and tie it with a ribbon and let the yogurt sit in the refrigerator for at least 8 hours, or overnight. The more you leave it to drain the thicker it will become. Once drained, discard the liquid from the bowl and continue to prepare your recipe. The yogurt cheese can be kept in the refrigerator for about a week.