Nutritional yeast and how to use it
Lovingly called "Nooch" among the vegan food lovers, nutritional yeast indeed deserves all the love. With its savoury flavour it's probably as close as it gets to cheese substitute, not to mention the abundance of essential nutrients it provides.
This type of yeast is deactivated meaning it won't grow inside your cooking pot or belly. The yeast is grown using glucose and is grown on whey, blackstrap molasses or wood pulp. The yeast is harvested, washed, heat-dried and packaged, either in flakes or powder.
The exact nutritional properties vary from brand to brand, but here are some average figures: just two tablespoons are 71% protein, and the rest is carbs (mostly fibre). It contains the 9 essential amino acids that the body can't produce itself; high in the naturally occurring B vitamins, as well as adding substantial amounts of iron, selenium and zinc to your diet.
So, should you eat it? According to experts interviewed by the Time Magazine, it's a 100% yes. Not only it's good for the body, the environmental impact of producing nutritional yeast is much lower than meat or cheese - both sources of the same nutrients. If you're ready for some experiments, try making a vegan pizza or vegan mac and cheese, or sprinkle it over... anything! Or stick with us to learn the recipe of protein-packed curried cauli and chikpeas salad.
Curried cauliflower and chickpeas salad:
2 cups cauliflower florets
1 cup canned chickpeas
2 leaves of kale
2 tbsp nutritional yeast
1/2 tsp sugar
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp lemon juice
salt & pepper
1 tsp curry powder
Mix sugar, salt, pepper, curry, lemon juice and olive oil. Drizzle 3/4 of the mixture upon the cauliflower and bake for 15 mins in a 400C-preheated oven. Let cool down.
Add chickpeas, chopped kale and the rest of the dressing, mix or shake to release more juices.
Sprinkle nutritional yeast flakes.
Never stop eating.
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