My Veggie Table: Warm Blueberry Muesli and Greek Yogurt

This recipe was inspired by a breakfast that the Veggie Dad and I once shared at the Ritz-Carlton in St. Louis, MO. Yes, you read that right, they have Ritz-Carlton in St. Louis, MO. I mean, why wouldn't they, afterall they have one Truckee, of all places. Before that time at the Ritz in St. Louis I had never even heard of Muesli, much less tasted it. It was also in St. Louis that I was introduced to Greek yogurt or more specifically, Fage Greek Yogurt. I had long disliked flavored yogurts, instead preferring a plain yogurt with my own ingredients mixed in. Unfortunately, sometimes regular plain yogurt is simply too tart. It was on a visit to my mother in law's house in St. Louis that I first tasted Fage yogurt. At that time, Fage was not available just anywhere and at times I was forced to strain my own yogurt to get anywhere near that desired consistency.

Over the intervening years, Fage has become widely available at even the most mainstream of grocery stores, including Target. Heck, there are now even more that one kind of Greek yogurt to chose from. I have tried the others, but none come close to the quality of Fage. The others are just not thick enough for my taste and since I prefer the 0% fat version it is important that the end product still be rich and thick. I would use it more in cooking, but I am awfully greedy with it. This is where I have to tell you:

“As a selected blogger, I have been entered for the chance to win a trip to Greece courtesy of FAGE. You too can enter to win one of three trips to Greece by entering the FAGE Plain Extraordinary Greek Getaway here: http://www.fageusa.com/community/fage-greek-getaway”

I was not required to use or even mention Fage in this post, save for what legally I have to mention above. BUT, I truly do love the product and I eat it at least once a day simply with some honey and walnuts.

Now, back to this delicious breakfast meal that I first had back in St. Louis. When I saw it on the menu, what drew my attention was the yogurt. I really had not a clue what Muesli could be and I was not really sure what to expect. What I got was a delicious, warm, thick, creamy and rich grain packed breakfast. It was sweet, but not too sweet, a feat not easy accomplished in a warm breakfast cereal. With just the right amount of rehydrated dried fruit, it simply put was near perfect. While I have never until this week attempted to recreate it, I never forgot how unbelievable it tasted. I must admit I have nearly broken my own arm patting myself on the back for how close I think I came to the original dish. The Veggie Dad concurs, but in all honesty the man does have to live with me.

A few words about ingredients: my primary focus in this dish were the blueberry muesli and the Greek yogurt. As I have mentioned previously I used my favorite low-fat Fage Greek Yogurt. For the Muesli, I chose to purchase a packaged one rather than make my own primarily because Trader Joe's has so many to choose from. You can make your own Muesli by combining a number of grains, dried fruits and nuts. Using a proportion of 1 1/2 cups liquid to 1 cup cereal I initially cooked the cereal in almond milk. I chose almond milk because of its pleasant almond flavor which I felt would be a positive addition to both the cereal and the Greek yogurt. I also added additional dried blueberries and walnuts, because you can never have too many of those.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups almond milk

1 cup packaged blueberry muesli

1/8 cup dried whole blueberries

1/2 cup 0% Fat Greek-style yogurt

1/4 cup chopped walnuts

1 tablespoon dark brown sugar

Place the almond milk in a small saucepan and bring it to a boil over medium heat.

Add the Blueberry Muesli cereal to the boiling almond milk.

Stir to completely incorporate the cereal to the boiling almond milk.

Add the additional dried whole blueberries and stir to mix together.

Place a lid on the pot and allow the muesli mixture to slowly boil for 10 minutes, while stirring occasionally. Do not allow the muesli to boil over, as it is a terrible mess to clean up.