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How about some green tea yogurt parfaits to celebrate the arrival of Spring. I know, I am the self proclaimed mountain girl who likes everything winter & snow. Perhaps I am softening up a bit and enjoying the fact that I live in the OC. Apart from the small tremor we felt yesterday, Orange County is a very beautiful & peaceful place to live. Sure we might teeter on precarious fault lines, but the constant bluebird skies are a great perk.
What these parfaits are:
- A calcium filled treat.
- A low glycemic way to satisfy sugar cravings.
- Made with healthy fats to sustain energy levels.
- Creamy, delicious, decadent & simple to prepare.
- Added benefits from antioxidant filled green tea.
- No need to use artificial green food coloring. The Matcha green tea powder has great flavor & is a beautiful shade of green!
- This parfait has excellent ratios of healthy fat and lean protein. You can add some carbs too with fruit & whole grains.
- Great for breakfast, brunch, mini meals & lunch boxes.
- A note about Matcha: Yes, it costs a bit more than other ingredients, but a little goes a long way. One tin should last a very long time.
Have you ever used matcha green tea powder? What is your favorite kind of parfait?
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Green Tea Matcha Yogurt Parfait
INGREDIENTS
Per Parfait
- a few fresh Strawberries, thinly sliced and cut into little shapes
- 6 -8 oz non fat Thick Greek Yogurt (strained yogurt)
- about 1 tsp Matcha Green Tea powder (use more or less according to taste preference)
- 4 tbs ground Flaxseed
- Sweeten to taste: Stevia (I use my Vanilla Stevia Drops,) Sucanat, Maple, Honey or Agave nectar good too
- Thinly sliced strawberries or other fruit. Strawberries, bananas, apples, pear, etc…..
- Optional: Fresh Mint Leaves for garnish
METHOD
Cut flowers out of your favorite fruit with mini cookie cutters. Combine yogurt with matcha green tea powder and sweetener of choice. If you are going to make white & green layers, just add a little matcha green tea powder to 1/2 the yogurt. You can sweeten both flavors or just one depending on how tart you like your parfait.
In parfait glass layer the flaxseed first and then add in yogurt layers. Insert bamboo skewers into the fruit flowers and place them in yogurt. Make sure the skewer is long enough to reach down to the flaxseed layer, otherwise they will topple over. I broke my skewers into different lengths. Add fresh mint leaves for additional garnish.
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Variations
- Add a handful of rolled oats or whole grain cereal if you want a serving of whole grain carbs.
- I stirred in a little cooked steel cut oats, the texture was like rice pudding.
- Add a handful of fresh or dried fruit.
- You can do a chocolate layer, just add some cocoa powder to yogurt.
- You can put assembled parfait in the freezer for about an hour if you want a frozen yogurt experience.
Matcha Green Tea Recipe Links
- Matcha Cupcakes with Matcha Cream Cheese Frosting maammeemoomoo
- Matcha Green Tea Macarons with Lemon Filling Trang’s Kitchen
- Matcha Green Tea Pistachio Muffins MarlaMeridith.com
- Red/Matcha Velvet Cupcakes with Adzuki Bean Paste The Pleasure Monger
- Shamrock Patties Bittersweet
Wow that just looks delicious, girl!! I have matcha powder but have no idea what to do it with since I’m not a huge tea fan. Looks sooo fresh and Springy. 🙂
What a pretty presentation and refined dessert!
I hope you had a lovely Easter…
Cheers,
Rosa
I love your pictures. The parfaits look so beautiful. I’m definitely a spring girl, and am totally loving this weather!
Wow! That’s so creative! I love tea 😉
I absolutely love this, Marla! It truly looks like a spring garden…my favorite part are the strawberry flowers! Love the butterflies in the hair too…my niece would be so jealous if she saw that! 😉
How pretty is that!
Wow – one word. GORGEOUS!
Great recipe! Both yummy and pretty!
Great pictures! I too have been wanting to make something with Matcha.This is my inspiration! Thanks Marla!
That looks great and sounds like a nice, healthy treat!
We were down at Oceanside Harbor on the dock when that quake started rocking and rolling!! It was a little bit of crazy excitement on our Easter Sunday!
I love the photos of the butterflies in the hair!
what a great spring parfait…so beautiful!! glad you had fun at the bloggie event!!
sweetlife
Did you say GREEN TEA?!! YUM! I love green tea flavored stuff!! AAH!! This must be one of my favorite of yours yet! And that’s saying a lot!
festive, tasty, and healthy creation, marla! i particularly love the flower-shaped berries.
i got my oats in the mail yesterday–thanks again!
That’s really beautiful!
Almost too pretty to eat! I love the green tea and strawberry combination. Talk about antioxidants…and lots of color! Beautiful as always, Marla!
This looks so great and refreshing~ Those strawberries are so cute 🙂
Wow! That is so beautiful! What a lovely spring time idea. I know it must taste as good as it looks!
These are so adorable! When I have kids I can see us putting these together, it’s crafty food, so much fun.
Where do you get your macha tea? I cannot track it down anywhere in my city. Photos are FRESH and HAPPY and SPRINGGGY!
🙂
Valerie
I found my Matcha at Whole Foods. The brand I have is 2nd Harvest DoMatcha. Here are a few helpful links that should point you in the right direction:
http://www.domatcha.com/
http://www.mightyleaf.com/index.cfm
http://www.matchasource.com/
http://www.teavana.com/
Hey mama, sorry that I am not as “all over” every post as I wish I could be. Sigh. Only so many hours, I feel bad that I am not quicker on the draw! You know how LIFE is!
And i totally wish i could lift and workout with you, that would be great!
Kids and eating and letting them have a little bit of junk so they dont feel it’s the forbidden fruit and going overboard later…totally agree.
Dang it, when i am in SD, you and i are gonna rock some yoga, iron, and shopping and a few cosmos 🙂 together!!!!!!!!
Love that parfait! It looks so refreshing and so perfect for this season, which is starting pretty warm here!
Mmm that looks good! I will have to try that someday. 🙂 (Thanks for the Coach’s Oats, Marla! Just got it in the mail!)
Thank you for this post. I needed some Spring. I hope Utah warms up soon!
I can’t believe you guys are still dealing with winter…..how about a trip to the OC?? xo
Gorgeous colours in your photos with tulips, strawberries and parfaits! I’ll have to wait a while longer, as our sunny spring just got a whole lot wetter around here:(
Love these parfaits! Beautiful photography too!! Can’t wait to see you at the bake sale next week! 🙂
What a fabulous idea — the parfaits are soooo pretty! And I love that you included matcha! I’m always looking for ideas for how to use it. Delish!
Marla, the parfait looks absolutely refreshing and delicious! Thanks for the recipe!:-)
Love these… seriously gorgeous! And the butterflies are
so adorable! 🙂
Amanda: Aren’t those butterflies awesome! Found them at a wholesale warehouse that is football fields long with home & party decor. We had so much fun putting them in my daughters hair for “crazy hair day” at school. Nice contrast to the uniform 😉
Looks great! Love your pictures. Have a super
weekend!
Marla! That’s the cutest!!
These are adorable, and I love how you took the time to cut
out the strawberry flowers. Matcha is a staple in my cupboard, and
I’ve had great success with baking projects, too.
So unique! and so spring-like 🙂 I’ve never tried Matcha before…it intimidates me! But this looks delicious.
these are gorgeous Marla – like some of the other commentors, i’ve not tried matcha before but am seeing so much in recipes lately, i’d really like to get my hands on some!
Debra: Yes, you have got to try Matcha. One tin of the stuff will last you a good long time. A little goes a long way. It is amazing how many recipes you can add it too.
Really great post………love it