I call it good.

I have yet to actually leave my chair and begin jumping up and down, but lately, when I see a recipe that calls for plain yogurt, I get very excited.

I know my existence is pretty pathetic if a little cultured milk can make me almost as happy as I was when I saw that one of my favorite actors on the planet is going to be portraying the goat-loving brother of my favorite fictionally gay magical school headmaster. Yeah, only ALMOST that happy because I did leave my chair and jump at least once for that. And I might have squealed.

But yogurt in recipes makes me happy. It may be because I always have it in the fridge. It is one of my son's dietary staples. Plain yogurt with berries. 6 times a week. Boy, is he regular.

Or it may be because time and again the results are killer. Or in other words, moist.

There. I've said it.

Take this recipe for example, which I've stolen from The Pioneer Woman, who borrowed it from a 15-year-old girl: Blueberry-est Muffins.

scant 3 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
pinch of salt
dash of nutmeg (pretty sure I threw some cinnamon in there, too)
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup plain yogurt
1 1/2-2 cups blueberries*
a capful or two of vanilla

Preheat your oven to 385. Yes, you read that right.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, soda, nutmeg, powder and salt.

In another bowl, whisk together sugar, oil, vanilla, egg, and yogurt. Add to the dry ingredients and stir to a count of 10. Add the blueberries.

Drop scoops of batter into some properly prepared muffin tins (I like PAM personally), top them with some turbinado sugar (or perhaps some brown sugar/cinnamon crumb topping that you keep in your freezer at all times) and bake them 20-25 minutes.

Let them cool in the muffin tins for 5-10 minutes to let them set a bit before popping them out and eating them all.

For Pioneer Woman's fancy schmancy photos and charming instructions, go here.

*Fresh blueberries are incredible, of course, but if you use frozen, lengthen your baking time just a wee.


There. That recipe. That recipe alone might make you decide to always keep plain yogurt in your fridge in large quantities. Like I do.

And besides the obvious smoothie applications, you can also make a really easy salad dressing with yogurt. Try 1/2 cup plain yogurt with about 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (and a little salt and pepper) over mixed greens and thinly sliced red onion. Ok, sure, tomato and feta are nice touches, too. Really. Don't let the simplicity fool you. Just try it.

Or, you could try making Tandoori Chicken (without the Tandoor, of course). I did. Thanks to Cook's Illustrated, which isn't one of those magazines that shares its recipes for free. I'm happy to share it for free, but since its instructions are a bit detailed, I won't type it all from here.

Let me sum up.
1. Take some meaty chicken and rub it with a gorgeous orange-red indian spice/garlic/ginger mixture. Let it be for 30 minutes.
2. Now coat the chicken with a yogurt (there it is!)/lime juice/gorgeous orange-red indian spice/garlic/ginger mixture and bake it at a low temperature for 15-25 minutes.
3. Now broil the chicken right up there by the heat until it's slightly blackened in spots and is cooked all the way through, 10-15 minutes.
4. Serve this with little wedgies of lime, some jasmine rice, and this magical yogurt sauce that my husband threw together because he thought that the chicken would turn out to be too dry (the lack of faith in the yogurt appalled me--the chicken was moist--but I thanked him for the sauce anyway) featuring yogurt, fresh lime juice, garam masala and fresh cilantro.

How does that sound? Let's just say that I didn't make enough when I first tried it. It was scarfed down in no time. If you want the detailed instructions, contact me. You won't be sorry you did.

So there you have it. A couple of life-altering food ideas that just aren't possible for you if you can't get on board with plain yogurt.

I like Nancy's. Whole milk or low fat, please. None of this nonfat business.