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Saturday, August 20, 2011

Nutritional Yeast

I love nutritional yeast. I think it is delicious, and lucky for me, it's super good for you. So super in fact, it is considered a super food. It's absolutely loaded with nutrients, including many vital vitamins and minerals. Among other things, it has the B-vitamin complex in its entirety, though it should be noted that in my research I have found conflicting opinions as to whether it has the ever elusive B-12 vitamin. Another perk, it is in itself a complete protein. These two facts have made it a favorite among vegans.

My favorite adjectives for this super food, other than amazing and delicious, are nutty or cheesy. Maybe a little bit salty... Mmmmmmmm, so good! It's flavor is not at all intrusive, which also makes it easy to hide it in just about anything.

You can find this food in the bulk section of most organic grocery stores, or in some stores you'll find it in the supplement section. If you can't find it, it's worth asking a worker for help locating it. A caution, some brands of nutritional yeast are dried using high heat, which can damage some of the nutrients and cause it to have high levels of MSG. (All yeasts have naturally occurring glutamic acid. The high heat drying process changes the chemical properties of the substance found in nature, and as with so many other things, renders it toxic for human consumption.) Good nutritionl yeast will be light yellow in color, and will dissolve easily.

Below you'll find a list of ways I have found to incorporate this amazing deliciousness into my diet, and that of my family. If anyone has any other ways they've found to use it I'd love to read them.

*Sprinkled on buttered/coconut oiled toast
*Sprinkled on buttered popcorn
*Mixed in with gravies
*Mixed into scrambled eggs, (my personal favorite)
*Sprinkled on salad
*Mixed into curries
*Added to rice
*Mixed in with marinara sauce, or sprinkled on top as a Parmesan substitute (I stole this idea from Nonie...)

I'll be experimenting adding it to a cookie recipe and let you know how it goes.

3 comments:

  1. Wow -- thanks for the great ideas, Melissa! Very excited to try them out. I've stirred nutritional yeast into soups lots of times (though I'm afraid I can't claim the Parmesan sub idea... I'll try it!).

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  2. It's clear I'm not going to be the nutrition/cooking expert on this blog (...yet!). Thanks for the great tip Melissa --- I'd never heard of this before.

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  3. Thanks for doing all that research for us! That sounds like great power food.

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