This oh-so-easy sauce will dress up dinner
The best way I’ve found to improve upon dinner has nothing to do with butter. It doesn’t involve a generous glug of cream, or even a few slabs of bacon.
The secret recipe that has transformed so many of my meals from dull to exciting is so unassuming that you probably have it stashed in your refrigerator right now.
It’s yogurt — but it’s not the kind of yogurt you have for breakfast, topped with honey and fruit. I mean savoury yogurt sauce, a nofrills combination of plain Greek yogurt with salt, lemon juice and a generous pour of extra-virgin olive oil. This surprisingly simple sauce elevates the plainest of meals into something crave-worthy and healthful.
It rescues me in the middle of the week when I get home late and all I’ve got in my pantry are beans and grains. I’ve turned yogurt into a pasta sauce, tossed with fettuccine and parsley. And it’s the only reason my daily grain bowls haven’t degraded into an endless parade of sad desk lunches.
I serve a thicker version — mixed with garlic, dill and walnuts — with roast chicken or fish. That same sauce can add a cool touch to contrast beautifully with charred lamb or steak.
And the stripped-down recipe is a must in my favourite way to serve vegetables, which I learned from John Gregory-Smith’s terrific cookbook, Turkish Delights (Simon and Schuster). I roast seasonal vegetables — think acorn squash, cauliflower or even tomatoes — then arrange them on a platter dolloped with, you guessed it, yogurt sauce.
The finishing touch? Chopped nuts, a hefty amount of herbs and, if I’m feeling ambitious, pomegranate seeds or crumbled feta. That’s something I’d serve at a dinner party, but it’s also perfect for when the only person I want to treat is myself.
1 3/4 cups (415 mL) plain non-fat Greek-style yogurt 1 tbsp (15 mL) finely chopped dill, plus more for garnish 1 clove garlic, minced Juice of 1/2 lemon 1 tbsp (15 mL) extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling 1/4 tsp (1 mL) salt 1/4 cup (60 mL) finely chopped walnuts, for garnish 1. Scoop the yogurt into a mixing bowl. Add dill, garlic, lemon juice, oil and salt, stirring until thoroughly incorporated.
2. Transfer to a serving dish. Garnish with the walnuts, more dill and a drizzle of oil.