Ben & Jerry Go Greek

It's all Greek to me.

It’s all Greek to me.

From the cute cow (who doesn’t love a cute cow?) to the creative use of flavor names like Chubby Hubby, Imagine Whirled Peace, Phish Food, Chunky Monkey, Coffee Caramel Buzz and Karamel Sutra, and those dedicated to celebrities such as Jerry Garcia (Cherry Garcia), Jimmy Fallon (Late Night Snack) and Stephen Colbert (Americone Dream), Ben and Jerry’s always manages to stay at the top of the frozen treat counter.

My first foray into the world of Ben & Jerry’s was their Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough.  The forbidden goodness of cookie dough mixed with cream, milk and sugar was one of  the best things to ever grace a spoon.  My tastebuds have never been the same.  Nor has my waistline, which is what brings me to this posting.  Well, not my actual waistline…that would be weird….you know what I mean.

In addition to their world-famous (and waistline-widening – let’s face it, nothing that good can be calorie-free) ice creams, Ben & Jerry’s also has a nice selection of sorbets, no-sugar-added and frozen yogurt products.

The latest endeavor involves delving into the world of frozen Greek yogurt.  Greek yogurt seems to be everywhere lately.  Ben and Jerry’s has taken the newest cool kid in town and given it a tasty spin with the addition of pineapple, lemon, passionfruit, blueberry and other yum-a-licious flavors.

Ben & Jerry's new line of frozen Greek yogurt.

Ben & Jerry’s new line of frozen Greek yogurt.

There are a few other flavors besides the ones pictured above but, as I said, I was thinking of my waistline when making my purchases.

Liz Lemon is a swirl of blueberries and lavender swimming through a sea of lemon frozen yogurt.  Lemon is one of my most favorite flavors, and smells, in the entire world and I really thought I would love this creation.  The lemon frozen yogurt is quite light in taste, not at all tart and citrus-y as I expected.  The blueberries and lavender are also on the subtle side.  Don’t get me wrong, it is very good but I can’t say that it is my favorite.

The flavor, named for Tina Fey’s “30 Rock” character, actually debuted at a party the night of the “30 Rock” finale.  Proceeds from the sale of Liz Lemon frozen yogurt go to an organization near and dear to Tina Fey, Jumpstart.  Jumpstart is an early education organization that helps kids in low-income areas to develop language and literary skills needed for school.  They train college students and community members to work with the preschool kids to help develop these much-needed skills.

Strawberry Shortcake is right on track with what I expected.  The strawberry flavor is subtle and the small pieces of berries and shortcake pieces sprinkled throughout are fabulous.  I think the shortcake pieces are my favorite.

Pineaple Passionfruit.

Pineapple Passionfruit.

Pineapple Passionfruit is a pleasing package of pineapple frozen Greek yogurt with perfectly placed pineapple pieces and delicious swirls of passionfruit.  Tropical in taste, it sends a burst of passionfruit to the palate while mixing in just a hint of pineapple.  If you haven’t already guessed, Pineapple Passionfruit is my favorite.  I also like alliteration.

Ben & Jerry’s frozen Greek yogurt selections weigh in at under five grams of fat and under three grams of saturated fat per one half cup serving.  They are all smooth, creamy and ahhhhh-inducing.

Besides the taste of their super yummy flavors, Ben & Jerry’s has a strong stake in environmental and global issues.  Ben & Jerry’s uses milk and cream from family farmers who do not treat their bovine employees with rBGH.  The company uses fairtrade sugar and vanilla and is working on being able to acquire other ingredients in a fairtrade manner.  Go Ben and Jerry.  And cows.

I think I’ve strayed from my original reason for writing this review/post (so what else is new?).  Basically, I think I was trying to say that frozen Greek yogurt could be a bit less pound-inducing than a regular scoop of ice cream.  And Ben & Jerry’s has it.  And it’s really good.  Yeah, that’s about it.

I’m proud to say that I’ve actually been to the Ben & Jerry’s factory in Vermont.  It was super cool.  And equally yummy.

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