Greek Yogurt Berry Parfait

After a week off due to the holiday, I thought I'd start this Monday with a dish my wife came up with for the 4th of July that fits with our aim to be more healthy in our lives.

Greek Yogurt has become a staple around our household and this adorable little dish has 6 oz of 0% fat Fage Greek Yogurt, 130 calories, 65mg Sodium, 18g of protein and 18g of sugar. Most of that sugar comes from the raspberry and blackberry filling that we made.

The best part was that we put these in mason jars that worked great for the BBQ and throughout the weekend. The recipe below makes 24 of these babies and you can substitute the fruit filling of your choice, the recipe works well with most frozen fruits.

Ingredients

144 oz. Fage Total 0% Greek Yogurt

2 packages frozen blackberries

2 package frozen raspberries

1/2 - 2 cups sugar

2 tbs cornstarch

2 tbs lemon juice

Fresh blackberries (for garnish)

Fresh raspberries (for garnish)

Fresh mint (for garnish)

Mason Jars, 8 oz.

Directions

Filling

1. Using a sauce pan large enough for the berries, begin to heat the frozen berries to a boil. During this time add in your sugar, cornstarch, and lemon juice. There is no set amount for these ingredients, add anywhere from 0 to 1 cup of sugar to taste, depending on how tart versus sweet you want the filling. More lemon juice will add to the sour (I prefer more tart than sweet but it is your choice). The cornstarch is there as a thickening agent, about 1 tbs per batch is good enough but you can vary it based on your thickness preference.
2. Once the mixture has reached a moderate boil, begin lowering the heat. The longer the filling is at a higher temperature, the more viscous it will become. After the desired sweetness and viscosity is reached, remove from heat and let cool to room temperature. This filling is good for 1-2 weeks after making.

Assemby

1. Depending on if you want chunks of fruit or a more smooth filling, puree the room temperature filling in a blender (or our new Magic Bullet, which was perfect for easy assembly).
2. Using 8 oz. mason jars, place enough filling (we started with blackberry) at the bottom. Put 3 oz. of Greek Yogurt on top, and top that layer with the next filling (to keep with a red/white/blue theme we used the raspberry). Top off with the remaining 3 oz. of yogurt.
3. Garnish with the fresh fruit that matches your filling (for easy flavor identification) and a mint leaf.  Place in the fridge and chill prior to serving. Greek yogurt keeps fairly well and these should be good for up to a week if kept in the fridge.