Nutritional Yeast Flakes
I love nutritional yeast! It has this cheesy, creamy taste to it and it is nutritional, hence the name.
What is nutritional yeast? Nutritional yeast is not bakers or brewers yeast. Nutritional yeast is produced by culturing a yeast in a nutrient medium from either beet molasses or glucose, for several days.
All nutritional yeast is not the same and nutritional values vary from one manufacturer to another. On average, two tablespoons provides 60 calories, 9 g of protein and is a complete protein, providing all nine amino acids the human body cannot produce. It is also a source of selenium, potassium, folic acid, selenium, zinc, and iron. Nutritional yeast has a nice bonus of 35 to 100 percent of all of the B vitamins, except for B12. It is also naturally low in fat and sodium and is free of sugar, dairy, and gluten.There has been some confusion about nutritional yeast and B12. Vegans, especially need to supplement their diets with B12. Yeast cannot produce this vitamin. There are some brands, but not all, that are fortified with B12. The brand that most vegans use is Red Star Vegetarian Support Formula because it is a good source of fortified vitamin B12 and contains no whey, an animal product that is used in some other brands.
Ways to add this cheesy substitute to your vegan diet:
- Add to soups for additional flavor
- A favorite…sprinkle on popcorn with a spritz of Braggs Soy sauce
- Stir it into mashed or fried potatoes
- I love it sprinkled on salad instead of or in addition to salad dressing
- Add some to the cooking water for “cheesy grits” or polenta
- Put into scrambled tofu as a substitute for scrambled eggs
- Sprinkle on any pasta dish
- Make almond “parmesan” by blending nutritional yeast with almonds in a food processor
- Add a tablespoon or two to bean dishes
Nutritional Yeast is inexpensive and can be obtained at most natural food stores. Try it for the additional B12, or just for the cheesiness of it!
Rhonda
