Spreading the Love

All photos by Ray Hydrick

Like many of you after the New Year, I made the choice to start watching what I eat to lose the weight I gained during winter hibernation. One way of lowering the calories is by making my lunches at home and taking them to work, so I know what’s in my meal. The only problem is…you can only have so many sandwiches before your taste buds start fighting back. So I have been making some easy spreads to add to my less-than-stellar sandwiches that have brought them back to life.

In two of the spreads I decided to use a mixture of Greek yogurt and olive oil mayonnaise. You have the tang and fewer calories from the yogurt but the mayo makes it creamy and can help tone down the yogurt flavor. Yes, both of these have calories, but remember you only need one or two teaspoons on your sandwich. I pumped the flavor by adding roasted garlic and fresh herbs, so you don’t need much to taste it. Let’s get this love fest going.

Roasted Garlic Spread
1/2 cup Greek yogurt
1/2 cup olive oil mayo (I like Kraft)
3 tablespoons roasted garlic (I get mine from the olive bar at Whole Foods)
3 sprigs of thyme (leaves only)
Salt and pepper to taste

Apparently, Ray added the Cybill Shepherd soft focus on this picture.

Add the roasted garlic and thyme leaves to a food processor. I know that seems like a lot of garlic but roasted garlic is not as in-your-face as raw garlic, plus I just like it. Pulse the garlic and thyme till thoroughly minced.

I love a mini processor

Add the remaining ingredients except salt and pepper to the processor. Pulse until smooth. Salt and pepper to taste.

These cylinder, plunger measuring cups are great for measuring thick creamy stuff – no digging it out with a spoon!

Add it to small jar and store in the fridge till ready to use.

Like it spicy?
Add a few dashes of hot sauce, like Texas Pete, to the mix.

NOTE: The next two spreads would follow the same instructions as above, just change the ingredients (see below).

Avocado Spread
2 avocados, ripe
1/4 cup Greek yogurt
1/4 cup olive oil mayo
1 tablespoon of roasted garlic
3 dashes of hot sauce
Salt and Pepper

The soft focus on this picture makes it look like a dream sequence.

Want something extra?
Add a tablespoon of chopped cilantro for a fresh taste or add a teaspoon of diced jalapeno, seeded.

Olive Spread
1 pint pitted olives of choice (I got mine from the Whole Food’s olive bar)
3 thyme sprigs, leaves only
2 tablespoons roasted garlic
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
Olive oil

Think your eyes are blurry? It’s okay, Ray added a soft focus to the picture.

Once the first four ingredients have been blended in the food processor, you may need to add 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil to bind it.

Options
Get the spicy macerated olives or the lemon macerated olives from the olive bar to give the spread a different flavor.

These spreads are tasty and very easy to make. Show a little love to your sandwich this Valentine’s Day and add a little spread. You both will be happily in love.

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