If you are looking for an-anytime-of-the-day meal, reading Seven Easy Tips for Building the Best Yogurt Bowl is worth your time. Obviously, enjoying a yogurt bowl for breakfast is logical. But a yogurt bowl for any time of the day is perfect on the Mediterranean Diet.
Since moving to Sicily, one Italian practice that has become a favorite of mine is having the larger meal in the middle of the day. Now that it is summertime, I tend to eat a larger meal in the middle of the day. In the late afternoon I like to go for swim. In the evening, another meal just feels too heavy. A Mediterranean Diet friendly yogurt bowl with an assortment of fruits and nuts is an easy and healthy evening meal after such a perfect day.
For readers who may not regularly enjoy such luxurious summer days, these bowls are also perfect for the afternoon meal at work. Using these seven easy tips for building the best yogurt bowl will provide energy to muscle through the afternoon. While filling, you will not have any heaviness to slow you down. Regardless of what time of day you are building the best yogurt bowl, these seven easy ways will provide an easy and healthy, well-balanced meal.
Mediterranean Diet Yogurt Bowls Are Not Just for Summertime
In Ortigia, the Sicilian town where I live, we have a lively market that operates six days a week. It is two blocks from our little apartment by the sea. The proximity of the market was a deciding factor on where my Sweetheart and I would live. One might think that walking through the market daily for over a year would have lost its “wow” factor for me, but quite the opposite. In Italy, fruits, nuts, and vegetables are sold seasonally. What that means is that every couple of months, the wares at the stands are different. The hues change with the months and shopping for fresh items to use when building the best yogurt bowl remains exciting.
For example, apples will be available soon, but nary a one is available today. Citrus may have been the star of the show in winter but now just a few oranges adorn the tables. Today, we have a plethora of several types of peaches (can I say YUM?), apricots, walnuts, canary melons, grapes, prickly pears, and cherries all caught my eye. Italy has taught me the joy of seasonably fresh produce all year!
Easy Tip #1- Select a Healthy Yogurt
When building a HEALTHY yogurt bowl, it is important to start with a healthy base. Choose a yogurt that is not overly processed and has either no sugar or minimal sugar. Start with an ingredient list that only includes names that are easy to pronounce. Additionally, using the rule of less than five ingredients is important when selecting healthy yogurt. Because I am allergic to cow protein, my options are often limited to vegan choices. Too often, my vegan choices are loaded with chemicals and sugar. I am working on perfecting making my own homemade vegan yogurt. Until then, I am willing to walk to a larger grocery store here in Sicily to buy a week-long supply of healthy yogurt.
Most often a plain or organically flavored yogurt will be healthier rather than choosing one with artificial ingredients. I found a “clean” lemon yogurt that was out-of-this world for building the best yogurt bowl. Unfortunately, as is typical in Sicily, grocery stores do not consistently have items. I have not found healthy lemon yogurt again. I typically buy a vegan yogurt that has three ingredients and no sugar. My bowl consists of only three or four ounces of yogurt. After all the other fillings, it is the perfect-sized meal.