Breakfast
Tangy yoghurt is a natural pairing for creamy poached eggs - especially when you add spiced melted butter into the mix and serve it with crusty bread. As an added bonus, this creative breakfast is straightforward to prepare, making it easy to deal with first thing in the morning.
A refreshing sauce of Greek yoghurt, dill and sea salt is the icing on the waffle of this bright breakfast.
Dips and bread
This mezze platter addition is yet another example of the genius of flavour pairing of rich browned butter and sharp yoghurt: strained yoghurt is topped with fresh peppers and dried chillies that have been cooked in butter until soft and caramelly. Start this recipe the day before to allow straining time for the yoghurt.
Haydari is a type of Turkish yoghurt dip, and this one adds tangy and earthy goats feta along with the labne (strained yoghurt), herbs and seasonings. Because of its thickness, you can use any leftover dip as a spread for sandwiches - especially those involving smoked and cured fish.
These flatbreads need a little time for the dough to rise, but then can be thrown on a BBQ hotplate, frying pan or into a wood-fired to cook in a matter of minutes.
Soups
Enjoy this Armenian classic either warm in cooler months or chilled in warmer months. It's light and herbal at the same time as creamy and comforting.
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This hearty and herbaceous soup from Azerbaijan, is definitely a meal in a bowl - it's filled with little hand-rolled meatballs, as well as chickpeas and rice. Like the Armenian yoghurt soup, it can be served warm or chilled.
Vegetable dishes
If you're in a hurry, but also in need of an interesting light meal or side dish, this salad can be ready in a total of 20 minutes - or less, depending on your parsnip-grating skills.
Plain yoghurt serves a pillowy bed for the lively chickpea topping. Expect mouthfuls of zing from the thinly sliced fresh lemon (rind included) and chilli flakes. This would make a great light and nourishing lunch or dinner.
Where pain yoghurt is often served as a neutral ground to balance out more complex-flavored dishes, here this marbled yoghurt brings the flavour to the table. Tomato is cooked with mustard seeds, cumin, curry leaves and chilli powder until pulpy, then wound through yoghurt to create a flavour ripple.
Serve this for a brunch (a poached egg wouldn't go astray!) or aromatic appetizer or tapas offering.
An intriguing combination of sweet spiced pumpkin with a salty spiced yoghurt. It would be a dream with roast lamb and/ or a puy lentil salad, roast capsicum or couscous salads.
Meat dishes
This lovely curry is mild, creamy and aromatic - a real crowd-pleaser.
Cooking fish in yoghurt makes it extra succulent, and the tang of natural yoghurt cuts through the richness of the mackerel.
Kind of like an Albanian shepherd's Pie.
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A spice-infused yoghurt marinade jump-starts the flavour in this version of butter chicken. Don't skip on the condiments, they complete the golden curry ratio, bringing sour, sweet, creamy and fresh flavours.
If you're a prawn cocktail lover - or just looking for a new way to serve prawns - this take on a prawn cocktail has a unique line-up of ingredients: the prawns are marinated in a pomegranate molasses-based blend before being grilled, and instead of the standard prawn cocktail concoction of tomato sauce, mayonnaise, cream, Worcestershire sauce and Tabasco, they're served with a sauce involving yoghurt, avocado, sumac and gherkins.
Manti are like Turkish ravioli, and are usually filled with a beef and traditionally served with yoghurt sauce.
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Dessert
Friends popping over for a cuppa and you need a go-to cake? You can rely on this one. Top it with whatever fresh fruit you have on hand, and an extra dollop of creamy plain yoghurt.
Technically, tomatoes are a fruit so it shouldn't be that surprising to use them in a dessert. They're cooked in a compote like any other fruit - with sugar, water, a cinnamon stick and lemon peel - and are a perfect match in both flavour and texture with the honey-scented yoghurt.
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