Yogurt Cheese

Today I discovered yogurt cheese. It's so easy to make, all you do is pour plain yogurt into a strainer covered with 3 leayers of cheesecloth and let it sit overnight or up to 2 days. One recipe I found said to put it in the fridge, but when I put mine in there, it froze (?!) and I ended up taking it out anyway to finish up. This picture is in the early stages, but after it's all strained, it has the exact same consistancy as cream cheese. In fact, the book I got the recipe from (Eating Clean by Tosca Reno) claimed it could be subsituted for any recipe using cream cheese. So with that, I had to make bagels too. (Basic recipe here. I added stuff of course, like whole wheat and onions. Yum.) The flavor of the yogurt cheese is much milder than cream cheese, but it worked beautifully. I think next time I'll add some roasted garlic, maybe some dill? This might be a good base for something to replace mayo as a sandwich spread, any good ideas for flavors?

Other uses for yogurt cheese:

• Yogurt cheese whipped cream: Mix 1 1/2 C yogurt cheese with 1 t vanilla and 1 t cinnamon. Blend well and use as a topping in place of whipped cream.
• Cake frosting: 2 C yogurt cheese, mix 1/2 C powdered sugar, 1/2 t vanilla. Mix well and frost cake. Store in refrigerator.
• Chocolate Mousse: 1 C yogurt cheese plus 3 T melted dark chocolate that has been mixed with 1 t honey or agave nectar (or probably just sugar for me--totally trying this one!)