02 May 2010

Salad Daze II

Happy Meatless Monday! I totally remembered in time- can you believe it? This morning I had sliced strawberries (now in season- yea!) and cantaloupe with a side of pretzels. What can I say? I was in a hurry this morning dealing with the cable guy and trying not to be incredibly late to work. My plan for the rest of the day is to devour some edamame, kale chips, and maybe soup for lunch. If all goes well, dinner will be a seitan picatta recipe I got from "The Kind Life", but I'm going to substitute tempeh instead. Cross fingers it works. (I'll post pics and the recipe if it does).

I kept hearing about nutritional yeast on several veggie blogs I follow and was tired of not knowing what the heck they were talking about. So, earlier this week I found myself wondering aimlessly around Whole Foods looking for the stuff. I had hoped it would come in a cute little glass jar and I could avoid the bulk food aisle completely, but no luck. Thankfully, I still had one glass spice jar left over from the time I received Hungarian paprika as a gift (It came in these cute pouches that revealed a plastic sandwich bag inside. Not very easy to use and messy). If you're thinking of taking the plunge, I suggest you get a similar jar. Plus, they're just so cute in the cupboard!

I have never bought anything in bulk before but thankfully the people at Whole Foods are so nice and took pity on me. It's a bit expensive (mine was $8.99 lb), but a little goes a long way so there's no need to go overboard.

Nutritional yeast is a complete source of protein, full of B vitamins, and low in fat making it a friend to vegetarians and vegans alike. It looks like large flakes of garlic powder and has a nutty/cheesy taste. You can use it in place of cheese in a dish or just sprinkle it into anything you make, such as salads, sauces, soups, potatoes, eggs, etc. I sprinkled about a tablespoon on top of a salad with Romain, spinach, cucumbers, celery, carrots, marinated artichoke hearts, garlic croutons, and balsamic vinaigrette. Yum! I can't wait to try it other ways.

Have you ever used nutritional yeast? Know any good recipes?

3 comments:

Natalie said...

I've heard of the benefits of nutritional yeast, but I haven't played with it yet. Hmmmm. Perhaps I should give it a go. But it definitely doesn't sound as scary as I imagined! Flax seeds, on the other hand? Not friendly.

singerinkitchen said...

I read today that one should take care not using nutritional yeast if one has a problem with too much yeast in the body. Candida and all that. I use it at least 2-4 times a month and that does not bother me. Thanks for the link!

Graygrrrl said...

@Noelle- I've also heard about that but so far so good on my end. I'm working on a post that will address that issue as well as the "how much is too much soy?" issue. Thanks for reading!!