MAKES 3 CUPS

From Ina Garten's 'The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook'. With just a little bit of planning, this yogurt takes only a few minutes to make. Some of the liquid is drained out of the plain yogurt and replaced with fresh orange juice to add more flavor. I love the chunkiness of all the additions. Use this recipe as a base and make up new flavors, such as cranberry orange or maple walnut.

1 QUART plain low-fat yogurt
1/4 CUP raisins or Craisins (optional)
1/4  cup chopped walnuts
1 1/2 TEASPOONS pure vanilla extract
1/4 CUP honey
Grated zest of  1 orange
1/2 TO 1 CUP freshly squeezed orange juice
Orange, orange zest, raisins, walnuts, or almonds - sliced & blanched (optional)

Line a sieve with cheesecloth or paper towels and suspend it over a bowl. Pour the yogurt into the sieve and allow it to drain, refrigerated, for 3 hours or overnight.

Place the thickened yogurt into a medium bowl and add the raisins, walnuts, vanilla, honey, and orange zest to taste. Thin with orange juice until it is a desirable consistency. Garnish with sec­tions of orange, extra orange zest, raisins, or walnuts and serve.

I prefer low-fat to nonfat yogurt for this recipe.