low fat greek yogurt

I'm a big fan of Cook's Illustrated and Cook's Country. I have yet to make anything from either of those magazines that didn't taste great. Their scientific approach to cooking fine tunes recipes and identifies subtle tweaks to the process of cooking that leads to a great end result.

They also do a great job of reviewing products. A couple of months ago (May-June 2011 edition of Cook's Illustrated), they did a review on lowfat Greek yogurt. Here I'm going to take that review a step further and review lowfat Greek yogurts on the basis of their taste and how full they make me feel.

I almost always take a lowfat Greek yogurt to work to eat at lunch and is something that has been a staple to keeping me full at work. They are typically 100-150 calories and are different than traditional (American) yogurt in that they are much thicker and they give you the sensation that you actually ate something.

Admittedly, I haven't tried all of the yogurts they tested and that is simply because they don't sell a couple of them here. I have tried the following: Voskos, Brown Cow, Dannon, Fage, Chobani, Athenos, and Greek Gods. I also tried Siggi's skyr, which is an Icelandic style yogurt.

I'm not going to review all of these, but I will tell you about three of them. My favorite, by far, is Fage. They have the widest array of flavors and the taste will punch you in the mouth. It is bold, thick, filling, and good. My favorite is the blueberry acai. Do follow the directions on the container: DO NOT mix the fruit in with the yogurt. You should dip the yogurt in the fruit as you eat it. The taste profile is completely different and good.

On the flip side, I don't like the Athenos. It is bland and watery and comparable to cheap (American-style) yogurt. Based on their ad campaign, I expected more. If you're going to spend lots of money advertising a product, I expect it to be good. Or at least competitive. This stuff is neither.

Finally, I'll tell you about Siggi's. This is one most of you probably haven't heard of and it's also not Greek-style. It is Icelandic skyr, which is actually thicker than Greek yogurt. I like this product, but I'm not entirely sure why. It is gritty and the flavor is not bold, it's actually subtle. Maybe it's because it is very filling. You almost have to chew this stuff. It's an interesting and good experience.

If you've made it this far, you may be asking yourself, (pardon my French) "What the heck does this have to do with eating spicy foods?" The short answer is nothing. But, it has everything to supplementing your diet with healthy foods to keep you feeling full and not eating calorie-loaded snacks between meals.

Posted in: diet,Greek yogurt,lowfat