Celebrity Chef Michael Symon Cooking and Contest with Dannon

Celebrity chef Michael Symon, a Food Network Iron Chef and host of ABC’s The Chew, has teamed up with White Plains-based Dannon in a campaign to get folks to cook with yogurt.

Specifically, they’re promoting the Greek yogurt made by Dannon and Stonyfield, called Oikos. Thick Greek yogurt is a great low-fat substitute for sour cream, cream cheese—even mayonnaise.

Try Symon's yogurt grilled chicken recipe here.

Here’s Dannon’s recipe for a cold cucumber soup. Try it on a hot day:

Ingredients

1 large cucumber

4 scallions

4 cups baby spinach leaves

2 cups Oikos Greek plain yogurt

1 cup vegetable stock

salt and red pepper to taste

Cut the cucumber into 2-inch chunks and reserve two of them. In a blender or food processor combine the first three ingredients, the broth and  1 ¾ cups of the yogurt until smooth. Add salt and pepper. Dice the remaining cucumber. Pour liquid into four bowls, top with a swirl of yogurt and the diced cucumber, and serve.

Click here for more recipes like Dannon’s Greek yogurt-based Key Lime Pie.

If you like contests, here’s one for late summer into fall: on Aug. 1 Dannon will launch a promotion on Oikosrecipes.com where consumers can share one of Symon’s recipes for a chance to win a kitchen appliance pack each week of the 10-week promotion—and there’s a $10,000 kitchen makeover Grand Prize.