Nutritional yeast is a popular and tasty food additive among vegans, added to foods to create a cheesy and nutty flavor. It is actually a non-active cultured strain of the single-celled organism called Saccharomyces Cerevisae.

Saccharomyces Cerevisiae is grown on molasses and then harvested, washed, and dried with heat to kill or “deactivate” it. Because it’s inactive, it is not like regular “yeast,” meaning it doesn’t froth or grow like baking yeast does so it has no leavening ability. Nooch is sold either as a yellow powder or flake (larger grocery stores might have the Bob’s Red Mill brand in the natural food section).

Vegans and vegetarians often incorporate nutritional yeast into their foods to obtain nutrients they have eliminated from their diets by shunning animal products. Nutritional yeast is packed with nutrition, particularly B-vitamins, folic acid, selenium, zinc, and protein. It’s low in fat, gluten-free,and contains no added sugars or preservatives.

2 Tablespoons of Nutritional Yeast: Calories: 60 kcal, Fat: 0.5 g, Carbohydrates: 6g, Dietary Fiber: 3g, Protein 7 g

Nutritional Yeast Uses: Sprinkle on popcorn or salads OR mix into yogurt based dressings and flours for a cheesy flavor.

Try experimenting with nutritional yeast by making this week’s recipe, Buffalo Cauliflower Wings, for a perfect football playoff appetizer.

Check out this zero cholesterol recipe of buffalo cauliflower wings that lowers cholesterol. Also check out the low cholesterol recipe of blue cheese yogurt dip.

Football Season Food! Buffalo Cauliflower Wings

Vegetable appetizers with Greek yogurt-based dips are great low calorie finger foods to keep around during the football season.

Yield: 6 cups of cauliflower (1 serving= 1 cup), ¾ cup of yogurt dip (1 serving =1/8 cup)

Ingredients: 

• 1 head of cauliflower

Batter:

• ¾ cup of whole wheat flour
• ¼ cup of nutritional yeast
• 1 Tablespoon of garlic powder
• 1 cup of original almond milk (you can substitute with soy milk, fat free milk, or any other milk substitute)

Buffalo Hot Sauce:

• ¼ cup of hot sauce
• ¼ cup of tomato sauce (no salt added)
• 1 Tablespoon of red wine vinegar
• 1 tsp of paprika
• 1 Tablespoon of olive oil
• 1 tsp of red pepper flakes

Blue Cheese Yogurt Dip:

• ½ cup of nonfat plain Greek yogurt
• 1 Tablespoon of red wine vinegar
• 1 Tablespoon of nutritional yeast
• Juice squeezed from ½ lemon
• ½ tsp of garlic powder
• ½ tsp of black pepper
• ¼ cup of blue cheese (you can substitute with goat cheese or gorgonzola)

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 450 ºF. Line a baking sheet with wax paper. Wash and chop the cauliflower into pieces similar to the size of small chicken wings. In a large size bowl, whisk together the batter ingredients until there are no clumps. Add the cauliflower to the batter and toss until all the pieces of cauliflower are evenly covered with the batter. Place the cauliflower on the baking sheet and place in the oven to cook for 30 minutes.

While the cauliflower is baking, mix all the buffalo hot sauce ingredients together. In a large bowl, toss the baked battered cauliflower and buffalo hot sauce together until the cauliflower is evenly covered with the buffalo hot sauce. Place the cauliflower bake on a new sheet of wax paper and bake for 20 minutes until the cauliflower are crispy. While the cauliflower is baking, mix the Blue Cheese Yogurt Dip ingredients together in a small bowl (keep your dip clumpy or mash up the pieces of cheese to make a smooth dip). Serve the cauliflower immediately with the yogurt dip, and the carrots and celery sticks!

Nutrition Information Per Serving: 

Buffalo Cauliflower Wings:

Calories: 169 kcal, Fat: 5 g, Cholesterol: 0 mg, Carbohydrate: 27 g, Dietary Fiber: 7 g, Protein: 8 g, Sodium: 101 mg

Blue Cheese Yogurt Dip:

Calories: 40 kcal, Fat: 2g, Cholesterol: 7 mg, Carbohydrate: 7g, Dietary Fiber: 0g, Protein: 4g, Sodium: 96 mg