Fennel seeds and fresh tarragon quietly infuse a yogurt marinade in this delicate fish supper. After it has spent a few hours in the fridge, slide the salmon into the oven and stir together the golden bread-crumb topping. You’ll be rewarded with a meal completely out of proportion to the amount of effort expended.

Ingredients

Serves 6 to 8

• 1 tablespoon fennel seeds
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• ⅛ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• ½ cup plain yogurt (not Greek), preferably whole-milk
• 1½ teaspoons Dijon mustard
• 1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon minced fresh tarragon
• 6 to 8 (5- to 6-ounce or 140 to 170 g) wild salmon fillets, 1 inch thick, or 1 (2- to 2½-pound or 900 g to 1,3 kg) salmon fillet (see Yo!), pin bones removed
• 1½ tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• ¾ cup panko bread crumbs

Marinate the salmon

In a spice grinder or with a mortar and pes­tle, grind the fennel seeds, salt, and pepper together until powdery. Transfer to a small bowl. Whisk in the yogurt, mustard, vinegar, and 1 teaspoon of the tarragon. Line a baking sheet with parchment. Place the salmon on the parchment and spread the yogurt marinade thickly and evenly over the top. Refrigerate, covered, for 2 to 4 hours.

Bake the salmon

Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C), with a rack in the center position. Bake the salmon until cooked through but still moist, about 15 minutes for individual fillets or 20 minutes for one large fillet.

Make the topping

While the fish bakes, or just after you pull it from the oven, heat the oil in a small skillet over medium heat. Add the panko. Season generously with salt and pepper and cook, stirring, until golden. Remove from the heat and stir in the remaining 1 tablespoon tarragon.

Serve

Sprinkle the panko over the salmon and serve.

Yo!

If you don’t have a spice grinder or a mortar and pestle, bash the cooled, toasted fennel seeds in a zip-top bag with a meat mallet. This dish is equally elegant with a single 2- to 2½-pound fillet you portion out after baking. If baking a large fillet, you’ll have one thinner end that’s flakier and better done and one thicker end that’s rarer. This is ideal for diners with different taste preferences. I like my salmon pretty rare. You can also use salmon steaks, if you like.

If you can get your hands on Alaskan king salmon—a high-oil variety also called Chinook—I recommend it because of its rich flavor and texture. Sockeye and coho will also taste great, but you’ll want to check for done­ness a few minutes earlier so the salmon doesn’t dry out. This is especially important if your fillets are less than 1 inch thick.

Excerpted from Yogurt Culture, © 2015 by Cheryl Sternman Rule. Reproduced by permission of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. All rights reserved.

Cardiovascular disease is the major cause of death worldwide and is influenced by unhealthy diet and physical inactivity. As dairy foods are included in the dietary guidelines of many countries, a meta-analysis of 22 prospective cohort studies assessed the association of dairy subtypes (high-and low-fat dairy, cheese, yogurt and butter) with the risk of CVD by measuring the risk of stroke and CHD. Varying nutrient compositions in dairy subtypes may have different effects on CVD risk.

The authors found an inverse association between dairy consumption and overall risk of CVD: Dairy intake reduces the risk of total CVD with 12% and 13% for strokes. The results show that low-fat dairy, including yogurt, also elicited beneficial effects on stroke, while cheese exhibited beneficial effects on stroke and CHD. Complex mechanisms may be involved in the potentially protective effects of dairy products against CVD. Dairy products are rich in minerals (calcium, potassium, and magnesium), protein (casein and whey), and vitamins (riboflavin and vitamin B12). Such components showed beneficial effects on CVD incidence. However, the underlying mechanisms of the different effects of dairy products on stroke and CHD remain unknown.

 Source: Qin, L.Q. et al., Asia Pac J Clin Nutr 2015, Vol 24(1), pg. 90-100.

Carrie Ruxton is a freelance dietitian who writes regularly for academic and media publications. Carrie works on a wide range of projects relating to product development, claims, PR and research. Her specialist areas are child nutrition, obesity and functional foods. Recently, she wrote an overview article about the yogurt science in NHDmag, The Dietitians’ Magazine, UK.

Why can yogurt be considered a healthy choice for UK adults and children?

As a typically lower fat food that is high in protein and calcium, yogurt is an excellent choice for snacks or dessert for any age post-weaning. Protein is believed to exert positive effects on satiety, leading consumers to feel fuller for longer after eating high protein foods. Calcium is an important bone-health nutrient which can be lacking in some diets, particularly those of girls and younger women.

Yogurt is more than just for breakfast or a snack. How can people integrate yogurt easily into daily cooking and habits ? Do you have any tips?

Yogurt is a versatile ingredient which is used widely in some European countries, although others have yet to make this discovery! I have often used yogurt in place of cream to create richer sauces, such as a mushroom sauce for pasta. I have also used natural yogurt plus berries or pineapple to make a healthy sweet dessert. Typically, I use flavoured yogurt as a mid-morning snack to avoid temptation from other less healthy options.

The decline of dairy consumption in adolescence is mainly driven by a reduction in milk consumption which is much higher in girls than in boys. Could yogurt help to maintain consumption of dairy products into adolescence?

One of the main reasons for decline in dairy consumption amongst older children is the switch from milk to juices and carbonated soft drinks. Breakfast skipping, particularly in teenager girls, is another reason. While we should continue to try and reverse these potentially damaging trends, yogurt could certainly plug some of the gap. Drinking yogurts and reduced fat, low sugar fruit yogurts are popular with teenagers who are often looking for fun, innovative products that can be consumed ‘on the go’.

Yogurts are now available with a range of additional ingredients offering a wide choice of products to suit different age groups and needs. Can we say that there is a yogurt for everyone?

There is, indeed, an enormous range of yogurt products but there is not yet a yogurt for everyone in my view. I would love to see more innovation in yogurts for children as there is a big difference in taste between the sweet, creamy fromage frais products for young children and the regular plain and fruit yogurts aimed at the wider market. It is quite a jump for young children to accept the more acidic taste and texture of ‘adult’ yogurts so I would welcome more intermediate-type products.

Read more about Yogurt on Carrie Ruxton’s original paper

Contact Carrie : www.nutrition-communications.com

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High consumption of carbonated drinks or acidic snacks and sweets increases the risk of tooth erosion, while higher intake of milk and yogurt reduces the occurrence of erosion.

Researchers at the Federal University of Pelotas (Brazil) used a meta-analysis and meta-regression to study the effect of diet in tooth erosion presence in children and adolescents (8-19 years). Thirteen observational studies were selected from several electronic databases by two independent reviewers. A random-effects model was used in case of heterogeneity.

Yogurt has an anticariogenic effect