At the first sight of ripe, red strawberries at the grocery store each spring, I go absolutely bonkers.  Bonkers, people. Three pints for $5? Great, I’ll take six … that kind of bonkers.  After a long, cold winter of nothing but apples, pears and imported oranges, strawberries are a sign of all things summery to come.  Visions of warm days filled with cookouts, burgers and fruit salad dance through my mind.  Of course, this all leads to thought of lounging poolside in a bathing suit, which immediately puts a damper on my desire to swirl those beautiful strawberries into a batter of sugar, flour, butter and all kinds of badness.

What is better than a bowl brimming with fresh, ripe strawberries topped with a lush, creamy vanilla yogurt?  Not much.  The beautiful thing about this dessert is the utter simplicity of it.  When it’s too darn hot for thinking of turning on the oven, this cool bowl of deliciousness is a perfect way to satisfy your sweet tooth without sabotaging your bathing suit body!  Rather than topping these beautiful berries with gobs of whipped cream, the topping is a mixture of Greek yogurt, agave nectar (or honey) and vanilla.  Super simple, low-calorie deliciousness to keep you in bathing suit shape!

I’m a recent convert to the world of Greek yogurt.  I know that foodie circles have been humming about this for awhile now, but I never saw the big deal.  Yogurt is yogurt is yogurt, right?  Wrong.  After having a similar topping at a friend’s house, I decided to give Greek yogurt a whirl.  It’s far creamier and thicker than regular yogurt, almost having the consistency of sour cream.  Despite the luxurious texture, it is very low in calories and high in protein (making it a dieter’s dream).

For this versatile topping, I mixed a large container of plain Fage Greek yogurt with vanilla extract and agave nectar.  Does it get any simpler than that?  I think not.  You could easily substitute a different sweetener depending on your personal preference (Splenda, Truvia, etc.).  This would be amazing over a bowl of mixed fruit with blueberries, raspberries and strawberries or even used as a filling for a fruit tart.  I’m already working on a chocolate version.  Go on, let your imagination run wild.

Strawberries and (Not) Cream

1 (17.6 ounce) large container Greek yogurt (2% or fat free)
4 teaspoons vanilla extract
3-4 tablespoons agave nectar or honey
fresh strawberries, washed and sliced

Directions:

- Add the vanilla extract and the agave nectar to the Greek yogurt container, stir until thoroughly combined.
- Serve fresh strawberries with a large dollop of the Greek yogurt mixture. Enjoy!  (The large container will make enough topping for several bowls of berries.  It will stay just fine in the fridge for at least a week.)

Similar Recipes:

• Whole Wheat Strawberry Scones
• Chocolate Raspberry Brownie Cake
• Waldorf Salad
• Homemade Strawberry Cake

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