Recipe Quick Cook - Coconut & Vanilla Yoghurt

Sometimes I just want something quick and easy that's fairly neutral tasting, that doesn't need much chewing but has a bit of body to it. Which is harder to achieve than you'd think!

Years ago I bought a couple of books on Candida Albicans. And promptly ignored them. Since I've been this ill, I've been looking through my books to see what's in there that's easy to make and easy to eat and tasty.  And I was a bit doubtful about this one, which is from Erica White's Beat Candida Cookbook, but actually it's rather nice and you don't miss the fact that it doesn't have sugar in it. It's also quite filling.

This pic was from pinterest, it probably takes you to a site where coconut & milk is involved. I have no idea, I just wanted a pretty picture of yoghurt!


What is it? Yoghurt, dessicated coconut and vanilla essence mixed together.

Cooking Skill Required? Ability to open packets, spoon out ingredients & stir them together. Easy.

Eating Ability Required?  Tricky one this. It's entirely possible, depending on how much dessicated coconut you add, to just slurp it down without chewing. The more coconut you add, the more you end up with random bits of coconut in your mouth, then again I treat it like an 'enrichment activity' they give to the animals in zoos to keep them occupied.... So very easy to medium depending on whether you have swallowing difficulties.

COCONUT AND VANILLA YOGHURT
Portions: Serves 1


INGREDIENTS
Plain Yoghurt - about 100g
Dessicated Coconut - 1 level tablespoon
Natural Vanilla Essence - few drops to taste (no more than 1/4 teaspoon or it is quite bitter & alcoholic cos the essence is made of alcohol but only tiny amounts so even if you're intolerant to it, you should be ok, be mean with it! You can always add more, but not take it away!) There's a big taste difference with natural & synthetic vanilla. Go for the natural, it's yummy!

PREPARATION

1. Mix the ingredients together in a bowl.
2. Eat it.

NB The original recipe for 4 portions - gives 450g/1lb of yoghurt, 1/2 - 1teaspoon vanilla essence and 4 tablespoons of desiccated coconut. If you're not sure how much coconut you want in there, start off with a dessertspoonful and see if you think it needs more. 

Serving Suggestions: 

• Erica suggests using it as a filling for pancakes or choux buns.
• It might be nice with soft fruit like blueberries or strawberries.

Can it be frozen? Don't see why not. You could maybe spoon it into an icecube tray and eat it as tiny portions like icecream? I've not tried... I would imagine it would need stirring when freezing to break up the ice crystals though, so not very energy efficient.

Can it be made ahead and eaten later? Yes, although the coconut soaks up the liquid in the yoghurt and it becomes more gloopy. So either add a bit of milk to loosen it up, or less coconut to start with.