St. Benoit Creamery

French-style yogurt

Yogurt is a chameleon in the food world.

Its versatility is legendary, and the things you can do with it are only limited by your imagination. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks – it easily parlays into anything you want it to be.

It’s perfect post workout for a healthy protein boost. It’s a great tasting, convenient snack for those between meal pick-me-ups. Add some fruit and crunchy granola for a light but filling breakfast.

I add it to smoothies for extra protein and calcium, use it in sauces to replace high calorie sour cream, or doctor it up a bit for a tasty fruit dip.

Whole Foods Market offers an interesting little yogurt from St. Benoit Creamery located in Sonoma, California. Touted as French-style, this rich, creamy treat comes in 3 flavors at my Whole Foods, plain, strawberry and Meyer lemon.

After some investigation, I discovered what makes French-style yogurt ‘French-style’ from dietitian blogger, Mary Brighton, who actually lives in France for part of the year. Brighton compared a brand sold in both France and the U.S. to identify that the French product had a significantly higher fat content, being made from whole milk as opposed to that sold in the States, which is typically made from milk with a 2% fat content. Of course, the lower the fat content in milk, the thinner and less concentrated the milk will be. The French also apparently don’t use anything to sweeten their yogurt products, whereas Americans do. You can read more from Brighton at her blog Brighton Your Health.

I actually prefer the thicker French-style. It’s creamier and makes for a richer tasting dish.

St. Benoit produces a responsibly sourced yogurt. Their dairy partners’ Jersey cows are fed from organic pasture farming and which makes for a superior milk. Made in small batches, this dairy staple contains only milk and active yogurt cultures. Nothing artificial, nothing unnatural. Read more about the St. Benoit Creamery and its founders here.

On its own, in a dish, or to replace an unhealthy alternative, St. Benoit Creamery’s French-Style Yogurt is another ingredient you can feel good about.

Tell me about your favorite yogurt and versatile foods in the comments.