A little jar of nutrition

Today's topic - nutritional yeast! But before we begin, I do have a brief rant about chia seeds. The other day Saroja and I were at the gym and on one of their monitors they were listing the top 5 best foods for you...or something along those lines. I don't remember the category exactly because the number 1 food was listed as chia seeds and I therefore lost all respect for the list. WHY MUST I BE CONSTANTLY HAUNTED BY THE SLIMY-TEXTURED CHIA SEED?!?!?

Ok, anyway.....

Say you're out at a restaurant enjoying a nice pasta dish for dinner one night. It's not uncommon for a server to come along after your meal has been served and ask if you'd like ground pepper or parmesan on your dish. Personally, I quite enjoy the parmesan. Now, imagine that same server instead asked if you would like ground pepper or yeast on your pasta. Yeast, you might ask? Or maybe you would just stare at them blankly until they walked away? I wasn't at a restaurant the first time I heard about nutritional yeast but I'm pretty sure I did the blank staring thing all the same.

I'm still not entirely clear on what the "nutritional part" of the nutritional yeast is or how exactly it's different from regular yeast. All I know is that it's supposedly a substitute for dairy, usually for things like parmesan cheese. It's certainly not a cheese-like flavor or consistency but to be fair it does have a taste that says, "I know I'm not really replacing cheese for you in this dish but I still have a recognizable taste that's not too bad, so I hope you will at the very least put up with me, if not find a way to actually enjoy me." (It helps if you say that in a voice that sounds like an animated cartoon of a small, cute yeast flake).

We do have a medium-sized jar of nutritional yeast in our fridge right now, and aside form using it on a pasta dish Saroja has included it in a few other dishes as well, and even on popcorn. It's really not too bad. Although I still don't really understand it, I can see how it can have a place in our fridge or pantry or wherever the best place is to store it (I'm still not sure about that either).

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To answer some of Penguin's questions...


Nutritional yeast is made from a single strain of S. cerevisiae, which is then killed through heating and dried to produce a flaked product that is both a complete protein (contains all 9 essential amino acids that the human body can't produce on its own) and contains high levels of Vitamin B12 (the one vitamin most vegetarians need to consider supplementing since it's mostly only found in animal products), iron, and folic acid. Because the yeast is deactivated through heating, it doesn't foam/froth/or make beer. Instead, it's basically a spice that imparts a 'cheesy / nutty' (aka umami) flavour to food.


If its fish-food appearance and name turn you off, you're not the only one. Most vegetarians refer to their beloved spice as "nooch" rather than nutritional yeast. The fact that Penguin enjoys it on popcorn should be a ringing endorsement all by itself... but if you'd like to try some of this super food and aren't sure how, check out these great recipes from The Kitchn and OhSheGlows. When added to sauces, it dissolves to form a creamy, cheesy consistency. But it can also be used dry as a parmesan cheese replacement or sprinkled on anything from popcorn (like Penguin said) to eggs.