It’s Recipe ReDux time again and as I’m off getting the Christmas table ready, I’ve handed to our second Summer Sub Lauren Sedger. I absolutely LOVE this month’s theme! You will love all the healthy recipe inspiration too, for the festive table or a healthy, happy New Year spread.
About our expert:
Lauren is a Melbourne based health sciences student looking forward to wandering down the path of nutrition and dietetics. She has always been an enthusiastic cook in her own kitchen and has a diploma in photography from RMIT. Through using short anecdotes and photographs, Lauren enjoys sharing her food, travel and cultural experiences. Follow Lauren on twitter @laurensedger or instagram @bobbing_4apples .
It’s time to makeover traditional white sauce. When you hear these two words does it conjure up memories of a thick and gluggy tasteless mess? I hope not! Although I’ve certainly had that experience more than once (not your white sauce Mum, I still can’t quite master cauliflower cheese as well as you).
This saucy re-invention is for Recipe ReDux, and in celebration of 42 months of recipes being “reduxed” so far, the theme this month is to grab the nearest cookbook, turn to page 42 or 142 and re-create! My cookbook of choice is a very outdated copy of New Idea’s Step by Step Cooking by Anne Marshall from the #scoopvintage library. Page 42 begins like this … “Sauce making is one of the most important skills in cookery.”
Anne’s recipe for white sauce has 5 simple ingredients; butter, plain flour, milk, salt and pepper. I’ve decided to keep my recipe nice and simple too, using 5 healthy ingredients. The plain yogurt used in this recipe is naturally a complete protein, providing your body with the necessary building blocks it needs to do its thing. An added bonus is the beneficial gut-friendly bacteria found in probiotic yogurt that aids in digestion.
Now while traditional white sauce is used in dishes like lasagne, scalloped potatoes and the aforementioned cauliflower cheese, this yogurt sauce can be poured over blanched green beans, used as a dressing for bbq’d prawns, or even tossed through warm spaghetti with rocket, avocado and parmesan cheese (an easy, tasty student meal).
Lemon and Garlic Yogurt Sauce
Ingredients
1 cup of plain whole yogurt
1/2 a lemon
1 crushed garlic clove
A generous pinch of salt and pepper
1 tbspn of hot water
Method
Mix every ingredient except the hot water together with a whisk until combined, and then while whisking add the hot water in a steady stream until distributed evenly. Voila!
There are also many variations to the recipe – I’ve added chopped olives and parsley, or diced sundried tomatoes and basil, and finely sliced anchovies. It all depends on your accompaniment, and I’ll think you’ll agree with me when I say it definitely pays to experiment. Some of my best food creations have been by accident. I can feel my own deconstructed version of cauliflower cheese coming on … Roasted cauliflower with goats cheese and yogurt dipping sauce anyone?
