Yoghurt Cheese dips

First seperate good quality yoghurt or kefir into whey and yoghurt or kefir cheese. See recipe here.

After draining off the whey, you can use the yoghurt cheese to make dips or spreads, much as you’d use sour cream. If you’re after a party dip, and the mixture is too thick, add a little sour cream, whole yoghurt or mayonnaise.

Some possibilities to play with:

• Herb dip – Mix with chopped herbs (preferably fresh), some sea salt and a touch of either mustard, cayenne or pepper.
• Tomato & herb dip – Add a spoonful of plain tomato paste or some chopped, desseded tomato to the herb dip.
• Onion & garlic dip – Mix with grated onion, minced garlic and sea salt.
• Chilli dip – add some chilli sauce to onion and garlic dip
• Cheese and onion – Mix with some grated tasty cheese, grated onion and sea salt. Beat till smooth.
• Salmon dip – Mix with drained, tinned or smoked salmon and sea salt. This also makes a nice pancake filling with some chopped red pepper.
• Honey spread – Beat together with a little raw honey, and some spices such as ginger or cinnamon. Use on toast instead of honey or jam, add a dollop to a serve of fresh fruit, nut muesli or porridge.

If you make kefir, you can separate the whey and make kefir cheese instead. This can also be used for dips, though is possibly better suited to savoury dips.