You know the saying, “Necessity is the mother of invention.”  That’s how I came up with my signature Greek yogurt dessert for a lunch I was invited to at my cousins Uma and Nando’s a while back.  It was a super hot day on that Sunday and the thought of making anything in that heat was just daunting.  Even stepping out to the grocery store for ingredients felt oppressive.  For this lunch I was assigned to make dessert and I wanted to make something that did not involve using the oven or the stove.  I had to work with what ingredients were at hand, and what I had was Greek yogurt, berries, chia seeds, and some dried fruits. With these ingredients in mind, I created this Greek yogurt parfait to take over to our cousin’s place. To my surprise it turned out delicious and the dessert was such a big hit that I have been making it ever since.  Here is the recipe.

My Signature Greek Yogurt Parfait:
8-10 servings

Ingredients:

• Fage non-fat Greek yogurt – 6 cups.
• Berries of your choice. – 4 cups. I like to use blackberries, blueberries and raspberries. I find these to hold well in the dessert for a few hours.
• Powdered sugar – 1/8 cup for every 1 cup of yogurt.  You can adjust the sugar according to how sweet you want your yogurt.  When I run out of powdered sugar I use honey instead.
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla.
• 1 tbsp chia seeds for every 1 cup of yogurt.
• Finely chopped candied ginger, dried apricots or any dried fruit of your choice.  These ingredients are not needed. I have made this dessert without the dried fruit and it tasted just fine.  Any quantity you like.
• 1 – 2 tbsp Grand Marnier – if you desire.
• 1 tsp rose essence
• Fresh picked edible flowers – I use nasturtium flowers, rose petals, and herbs like mint and sage.

Directions:

• In a bowl add the yogurt and mix in powdered sugar, vanilla, rose essence and Grand Marnier. Next add chia seeds and mix in.
• Place the yogurt mixture in a serving bowl. Add berries on top of yogurt mixture. Garnish with edible flowers, rose petals, and mint leaves.
• Cover and chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours for the chia seeds to thicken the yogurt mixture.  Drizzle with honey before serving if you like but not necessary.
• You can save the remainder of the yogurt in the refrigerator for up to 2 days as long as the berries are on top and not mixed into the yogurt.