Nutritional Yeast

[wish]

Ok, totally just discovering nutritional yeast! I don't know how I've missed it all this time. But Im not sure how to use it?? Can I sprinkle it on my lunch for tomorrow (quinoa) and heat it up or should I add it after I heat? Can you add it to foods you are baking?
TIA

[Biscuits & Gravy]

A couple of things we love to add to are quesadillas and mac & "cheese". For the quesadillas I normally do refried beans, then sprinkle with a thin layer of nutritional yeast. My mac & "cheese" is started with melted margarine, equal amount of flour, cook the flour/marg. for a minute. Pour in liquid (I usually do a mixture of broth and milk sub to add flavor) bring it to a low boil, reduce heat and let it thicken. Then I toss in a handful of nutritional yeast at the end. Pour it over cooked noodles.

[Malva]

We use it in a couple dressings, a nacho un-cheese sauce, on scrambled tofu and probably some other places I'm not thinking of right now.

[red and lulu]

i frequently throw it on stuff after heating (like pasta, rice & beans, tofu scramble, etc.)

it's deliciously amazing on popcorn.

i like the "cheezy sauce" from veganomicon, which you can use for mac&chz or on veggies or nachos or whatever. it's really good, and surprisingly healthy b/c it's a broth base.

ETA: i forgot one of my favorite uses! to crispy fry tofu! cube tofu, and pan fry in a little olive oil until browned, then sprinkle with tamari and remove from heat. wipe down the pan, put fresh oil in it and throw the tofu back in over high heat. sprinkle with a little more tamari and some nutritional yeast with one hand and keep stirring the tofu with the other for just 30 seconds or so. it's really good!

[katroshka]

Short answer- everything. We use so much of that stuff... I make a mix of nut. yeast and seasonings like garlic powder, herbs, salt, pepper, paprika or whatever else strikes my fancy, we call it "yellow stuff" (from the days when my kids were very little) and we use it on everything.

We especially like to cube tofu or tempeh, toss with olive oil, then add garlic and whatever veggies we want (shelled edamame, broccoli, spinach are our favorites for this), and toss with lots of yellow stuff. Then we bake it at 400 until it gets a little browned. It's super easy and is so good.

Here's our favorite gravy recipe that uses nut. yeast:

2/3 cup unbleached flour
3/4 cup onion, diced
2 t. safflower oil
2 t. garlic, minced
4 cups vegetable stock or water
1/2 cup nutritional yeast flakes
2 T. tamari or soy sauce
1 1/2 t. rubbed sage
1 1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. freshly ground black pepper


In a medium saucepan, place the flour, and cook over low heat, while stirring constantly, until lightly brown and fragrant. Transfer the browned flour to a medium bowl and set aside. In the same saucepan, saute the onion in the safflower oil, over low heat, for 3-5 minutes or until soft. Add the garlic and saute an additional 2 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients to browned flour and whisk well to combine. Add the wet ingredients to the sauteed onion mixture, whisk well to combine, and continue to cook the mixture, while whisking constantly, until thickened. Taste and adjust seasonings, as needed.


From http://www.veganchef.com/

We use this gravy for everything: biscuits, potatoes, savory pastries, tofu "turkey", you name it.

[Comtessa]

I only add nutritional yeast after cooking -- I don't like the way it cooks into things.

Soup is maybe an exception, sometimes, but even with soup, I usually throw in a handful after it's done. IMO, definitely don't bake the stuff -- I made some kind of a casserole once and topped it with a sprinkling of nutritional yeast before baking, and it was awful. I don't even know why it was awful! But it was. And maybe I'm making this up, but doesn't cooking it make it less healthy for you?

I'd like to strongly second the recommendation of sprinkling it on popcorn. We're addicted to it in our house. I actually travel with a small container of it when I visit out-of-town family, because usually we're making popcorn and somebody says, "hey, Comtessa, do you have any of your magic popcorn seasoning?"

I also frequently sprinkle it on top of steamed broccoli (magically convinces 16 mo DD that broccoli is edible -- I have no idea why it works, but I ain't arguing), vegetable stir-fries, and grain dishes (like rice pilaf) that need a little 'livening up.'

OP, I'd suggest sprinkling it on your quinoa after heating, as a condiment. A good rule of thumb that I use for nutritional yeast is, I put it on anything that I think would be improved with a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese. Similar enough texture and flavor for that to work, most of the time.

My grandmother used to make a drink she called "tiger's milk." It was milk mixed with generous portions of molasses and nutritional yeast and I think a raw egg, too. (It was 'tiger's milk' because the molasses made it stripey -- get it?) We all had to drink it -- children and grandchildren alike. It was truly dreadful, but I'm sure it was healthy!

p.s. I LOVE the crispy-fried tofu from red + lulu!!! I'm going to try that tomorrow for dinner!!!