How to Cook Delicious Dishes with Greek Yogurt

Here’s how to cook some delicious meals featuring Greek yogurt and Latin touches. Nutritionist and chef Lourdes Castro gives us some excellent options, which are also much healthier.

At a time when modern cooking has become a hobby for many, this art invites you to play and experiment with new flavors and ingredients. Within this "new world," Greek yogurt is a 'must' in many menus. Why? Besides having an exquisite flavor, it can serve as a substitute for oil, mayonnaise and butter.

It has hundreds of uses, "both in savory cooking and in baking," says chef and nutritionist Lourdes Castro. She is the one who has guided our preparation of a menu in which her two main dishes feature this ingredient at its best. We are talking about Chobani yogurts, a classic in the U.S. market and a regular in U.S. kitchens.

Here are two recipes with Greek yogurt and Latin touches.

PORK LOIN WRAPPED IN YOGURT

Ingredients:

1 cup plain Greek yogurt

1 boneless pork loin (trimming the fat is recommended)

1 pinch black pepper

1 tablespoon honey

6 cloves garlic

1 pinch of salt

Preparation:

Mix the garlic and salt until you get a paste. Then add the yogurt and mix it again. Spread more yogurt all over the pork loin and wrap it in plastic wrap. Let it rest for an hour in the refrigerator. Once that time has elapsed, preheat the oven to 400ºF and take the tenderloin out to season it with salt and pepper; remove the excess yogurt as well. Bake

for one hour at 140ºF. Once it is baked, take it out and drizzle honey over the top. Put it back in the oven until the tenderloin caramelizes. Once caramelized, let it rest for 15 minutes and serve in slices.

CHIPOTLE MASHED POTATOES

Ingredients:

2 pounds of potatoes

1 cup plain Greek yogurt

Half teaspoon chipotle powder

Three-quarters teaspoon salt

Preparation:

Cut the potatoes and place them in a large pot. Cover them with water and add salt. Then, boil the water. Once it is boiled, lower heat and cook for 15 minutes, approximately, until you see that the potatoes are ready. In a different pan, pour the Chobani yogurt, chipotle powder and salt. Mix together. Return to the pot, drain the potatoes and mash them into a paste. Stir in the yogurt mixture. Season to taste and serve the mashed potatoes hot.

Latin Grilling

The possibilities do not end here. Lourdes Castro presents a culinary journey through Latin America in her book 'Latin Grilling': "It is a sample of Latin American cuisine. Each chapter is a menu from a different country," says Castro. Cuba, Mexico, Argentina, Peru or Brazil, were some of her destinations and the basis of the menus in this book that will surely make your mouth water!