What is nutritional yeast, you ask? It’s an amazing booster food! What is a booster food? A booster food is a food that we need in very small quantities in our eating lifestyle, but offers a lot of bang for the buck. Nutritional yeast is a deactivated yeast similar to brewer’s yeast. It is known for it’s vitamin B-12 content, which is added to the yeast, but this is the only plant source of vitamin B-12, making nutritional yeast extremely popular among vegans and vegetarians. In about 1 1/2 tablespoons there is roughly 133% vitamin B-12!! Talk about a booster food!
Nutritional yeast has a cheesy, nutty and creamy flavor and is often used in place of cheese in vegan recipes. It can be added to hot popcorn (REAL popcorn, not microwaved crap), to top salads, used in pasta sauces and actually, pretty much anything. I keep mine in a shaker because it truly is a condiment I use every day. I literally put it on EVERYTHING; salads, soups, hummus wraps, cooked veggies, quinoa pasta, brown rice…there are endless possibilities.
Nutritional yeast can be found in the bulk bins of your favorite health food store or you can buy it online at veganessentials.com They carry Red Star Nutritional Yeast in a 5oz shaker for $4.79. In the bins, it runs somewhere between $5-7/lb. Trust me, 1 lb is a LOT of nutritional yeast. It comes in a a powder or flakes. Just make sure to buy nutritional yeast and not brewer’s yeast as they do not have the same flavor.
One of my favorite recipes, which is very simple and so delicious is the following:
Broiled Herbed Tomatoes (serves 4)
- 4 tomatoes cut in half
- 1 1/2 tablespoons Earth Balance (soy free) or olive oil
- 1-2 teaspoons basil (fresh recommended)
- 3 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- dash of sea salt and fresh pepper
Place Earth Balance, basil, nutritional yeast, salt and pepper on top of tomatoes. Broil for 4 minutes until tops are slightly brown.
I like to serve them over either couscous or quinoa. The nutritional yeast ends up getting nice and flaky almost like the texture of bread crumbs. This is absolutely one of my favorite recipes which I end up making a lot when there is an abundance of tomatoes. Sometimes I will make them twice a week because they are so easy! I am SO happy tomatoes are almost back in season! A plus with this recipe is that each serving is only 71 calories, 4 gm of fat, and 7 gm of carbs (of course the grains add more, but gobble those super power booster food tomatoes up, my friends!)
If you really want to have some fun, try making a raw nut cheese, which you can use to make vegan Mac ‘n’ Cheeze:
- 1/2 cup raw cashews (soaked 8 hrs)
- 1 tbsp miso paste
- 1/2 nutritional yeast
- 1/4 cup oil oil
- 1/2 fresh lemon juice
- sea salt
- 1 garlic clove
Drain cashews and place them and all other ingredients in VitaMix. Blend everything in VitaMix blender (or food processor if you don’t have a VitaMix). Cook quinoa pasta shells according to directions. Drain and rinse pasta and use your cheeze sauce to coat pasta. Mix in crushed red pepper flakes for some added spice. Store in fridge for up to 2 weeks in tightly sealed container.
Have fun and get creative with this yummy booster food. It really does add a lot of flavor and nutrition to your favorite recipes. A good start is to try the popcorn…everyone likes popcorn. Some movie theaters are even starting to carry nutritional yeast as a condiment! I would say to try that first…baby steps…but I promise you will love it and heart nutritional yeast as much as I do. 
