For years when I asked my chiropractor what I could do to increase my energy levels she would say consume more B vitamins. When I asked how I could do that without popping more supplements she said eat more nutritional yeast. At the time I had no idea what nutritional yeast was, let alone how to use it. A few years later and I use it all the time for various things!
Nutritional yeast is a deactivated yeast which means it is safe for those on a Candida diet or other similar diet. It is gluten-free, a complete protein and a great source of those complex B vitamins! It comes in a yellow flake form in my local store (or online) and I can buy it in the bulk bin or in a smallish bag. It’s not terribly cheap, but it does last awhile.
So what would you use this interesting food for? My chiropractor suggested using it to sprinkle on my popcorn and for quite some time that was all I knew about it. It has a strong taste and an interesting smell that takes a little bit of getting used to. It wasn’t until about a year ago that I started using it on pretty much everything. It now resides on the back of my stove. It’s handy to sprinkle several times a day on my different foods.
Vegans find it especially handy when making cheese sauces as it has a slight cheesy taste. I’ve tried those and they are okay. My picky daughter however won’t touch any macaroni and cheese I make anymore because of the one time I made a sauce with nutritional yeast and Dijon mustard. She was completely grossed out (it did have more of an adult taste) and won’t forget about it or trust anything I say is macaroni and cheese unless it comes in a box with a bunny on it.
I do; however, use it for sprinkling on my leftover platters, my tuna salad, my taco filling, my sloppy Josephines (meatless lentil sloppy joes), my weekly pizza, when I cook my rice I frequently use a veggie broth that contains nutritional yeast, and it makes a nice substitute for parmesan cheese on top of spaghetti.
Although nutritional yeast hasn’t completely replaced my commercially bought cheeses (I like the Daiya and Go Veggie brands) it is handy to have something on hand to help with my cheese cravings that doesn’t go bad! When I do buy the commercial brands the labels frequently say nutritional yeast on the label or they taste like it.
I hope that I have inspired you to try this little powerhouse food/seasoning! What do you think? Are you scared of new tastes in foods? Would you try it? What do you think you would try it on?