And I’m back! School and other life occurrences have kept me very busy lately. For a while there, we were eating almost every single meal out. It almost drove me insane. Now that I’m making a little more time to cook again, I’ve realized how important it is for my wellbeing. The is nothing more relaxing to me than cooking in my kitchen with a glass of wine and some good music!

We all know how much I love David Leibowitz’s Perfect Scoop. I especially love his recipes that are quick and egg-less. Truth be told, I am not the biggest fan of ice cream. I actually have a serious soft spot for frozen yogurt (or “fro-yo”, as we used to call it in the Bay Area). When I first moved up to Seattle, I was taken aback by the lack of frozen yogurt shops in the city, and disheartened by the blank stares and eye rolls I received when I dropped the word “fro-yo” in the presence of locals. (Stop trying to make fetch happen) So, over the years, I developed a taste for the heavy, sweet, gourmet ice cream that seems to be ever so popular up here in the great Northwest.

When I saw David’s recipe for frozen yogurt made from greek yogurt, I knew this was right up my ally. Greek yogurt makes the world go round, so how could this not be good? The result is light, creamy, and tangy. Plus, it’s super easy and healthy. I pared the recipe down to work with the two-cup container of greek yogurt that Trader Joe’s sells. However, you can use any brand, and any fat percentage.

Very Vanilla Frozen Yogurt
Slightly adapted from David Liebowwitz’s Perfect Scoop via Marcus Samuelsson 

• 2 cups plain Greek yogurt (either whole-milk, lowfat, or nonfat)
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Seeds from 1/2 vanilla bean pod (optional)

1. Mix together the yogurt, sugar, vanilla extract, and vanilla bean seeds. Stir until the sugar is completely dissolved. Refrigerate for 1 hour.
2. Freeze in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
3. Frozen yogurt can be served at soft serve consistency, or can be placed in the freezer for a few more hours to harden.

Trader Joe’s Greek-style yogurt is very affordable and comes in fat-free, low-fat, or whole-milk versions.

I used some of my homemade vanilla (recipe coming soon) found here!

To de-seed the vanilla pod, carefully cut the pod in half down the middle. The gooey dark brown stuff is the seeds. Take the back of your knife and run it down the pods to collect the seeds.

Watch the magic unfold in your ice cream maker!

I stored the frozen yogurt in the plastic Greek yogurt container. The container is flexible, which makes scooping much easier.