Lebna

First, you're wondering what the heck is Lebna, right? Its sort of like sour cream, but thicker, and sort of like cream cheese but lighter/creamier. Its easy, healthy, cheap and packs a yummy punch. Its great as a substitute for the aforementioned items, and is amazing w/ Kebabs, Pita Bread, well, lots of things. And did I mention easy?!

Here's what I used:

32 oz Plain Low Fat Yogurt
An old, clean pillowcase or cheesecloth
A strong rubberband

Here's what I did:

First I found an old pillowcase that doesn't match any of our sets. Then I turned it inside out, so that the seams were on the outside, giving me a "cleaner" inside. Then I set my pillowcase, turned out around the edges to give me space for the yogurt (much like preparing an icing bag). Once I spooned all the yogurt into the inside-out pillowcase, I twisted the slack pillowcase, and then folded it in half, to trap the yogurt tightly into one corner/end of the pillowcase. I then secured it with a sturdy rubberband, and hung it (using the loop I'd made in the pillowcase) from a knob on one of my cabinets. I left the bowl below, to catch all the drippings from the yogurt. (You can also use your sink and sink spout to hang the yogurt-en-pillowcase).

I left this overnight, and by this morning, most of the liquid had drained out of the pillowcase. I rolled back the pillowcase to reveal my Lebna! I shook it out into a tupperware container, added a pinch of salt, and a few tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil. Mixed well.

I am now enjoying this with a fresh piece of pita bread. YUMM!!!