4 posts tagged “nutritional yeast”
BlogHer contributing editor Alanna Kellogg has posted about making gravy this Thanksgiving, and asked for recipes. This finally motivated me to post my favorite gravy recipe...vegan of course...so I could link to it in the comments of Alanna's post.
Ingredients:
¼ c. flour (I use soy flour typically)
½ c. nutritional yeast flakes (Available at Whole Foods. Make sure to use nutritional yeast, not brewer's yeast)
1/3 c. oil or margarine (Oil works better.)
1 ½ c. water (You can use vegetable stock for part of this, but I find it gets too savory for my taste)
2 to 3 TB soy sauce or tamari
salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
- Toast the flour and nutritional yeast flakes in a pan, until the mixture gives off a nutty aroma.
- Add oil and stir until bubbly.
- Add water and cook until mixture begins to thicken, stirring constantly.
- Add soy sauce, salt and pepper. Makes approx. 2 c. of gravy.
When I was in Africa I encountered the kind of conversation I have fairly often. Inevitably if I mention I'm a vegan to a group of people, someone in the group feels the need to share how they were a veg*n for xx years, but they're not anymore. This is immediately followed by why they're not anymore, which is inevitably that it made them sick or tired or something.
I read an article in today’s Telegraph, a British newspaper. The title of the article is Vegan diet increases the risk of birth defects, scientists warn. The subtitle of the article is: “Women who are strict vegetarians or vegans may be [at] greater risk of having a child with birth defects because they are likely to be deficient in vitamin B12, researchers warned.” The article discusses a new study published in the journal Pediatrics.
But apart from the title and subtitle of the article, there is no further mention of veganism or vegetarianism.
So I went to my university library site to download the article but it was not yet available as the issue in which the article appears has just come out. But I was able to find the abstract of the article on line. Interestingly, the abstract does not even contain the word “vegan” or “vegetarian.” The words “vegan” and “vegetarian” do not appear in the list of key words describing the author.
A vegan diet can surely present health problems. I would imagine that if someone ate nothing but brussel sprouts every day three times a day, that person would suffer ill effects. But so would someone who ate nothing but steak every day three times a day.
It is inadequate nutrition and not a vegan diet that is correlated with birth defects.
For those who claim that a vegan diet is not “natural” because vegans have to be concerned about B-12, please remember that everyone has to be concerned about B-12 and must consume some food to get that B-12. I consume nutritional yeast; carnivores consume meat. To say that yeast is less “natural” than meat begs the question.
Delicious Living Magazine posted some nice vegetarian recipes for Thanksgiving, and Kalyn from BlogHer put out a call for everyone's favorite Thanksgiving recipes, so I felt inspired to dig out my favorite Thanksgiving recipe. This was originally included in a PETA mailing as a little perforated attached recipe index card. This recipe is how I discovered nutritional yeast, so I am forever in its debt! I may not cook the entire thing very often, but I can tell you I cook the gravy recipe just about every week.
Tofu Pot Pie, Serves 8 people
Pie Crust
Ingredients:
2 cups flour
½ c. margarine
1 tsp. salt
½ c. water
Directions:
- Mix flour, margarine & salt together, adding water as needed. Separate dough into two balls. Roll one ball into a 9-inch pie shell. Bake for 10-15 minutes at 400° for a half-baked pie shell. Roll other ball into top crust.
Golden Gravy
Ingredients:
¼ c. flour
½ c. nutritional yeast flakes (available at Whole Foods.)
1/3 c. oil or margarine (oil works better.)
1 ½ c. water
2 to 3 TB soy sauce or tamari
salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
- Toast the flour and nutritional yeast flakes in a pan, until the mixture gives off a nutty aroma. Add oil and stir until bubbly. Add water and cook until mixture begins to thicken, stirring constantly. Add soy sauce, salt and pepper. Makes approx. 2 c. of gravy.
Pie
Ingredients:
1 half-baked 9-inch pie crust (see above)
¼ c. flour
1 TB nutritional yeast flakes
1 tsp salt
¾ tsp. garlic powder
3 c. firm tofu, chopped to bite size
2 TB oil
1 c. finely chopped celery
1 c. sliced carrots
Other vegetables as desired (I use corn kernels and green peas, for example.)
2 c. Golden Gravy (see above)
Preheat oven to 375°
Directions:
- Have ready the cooked pie crust, and the dough for the top crust.
- Combine flour, yeast flakes, salt, garlic powder and tofu in a paper bag and shake. Saute tofu mixture in oil until lightly browned. Add onions, celery and carrots. When onions are soft, add any other vegetables.
- Pour Golden gravy over mixture and serve. Pour mixture into half-baked pie shell. Top with pie crust and bake at 375° for 30 minutes.
- Alternate: You can also simply pour mixture into a casserole dish and top with crushed corn flakes.
Found a promising looking vegan blog to add yo my feed reader, entitled Vegan Guinea Pig.
"Although nutritional yeast is an amazing addition to any recipe I recommend finding places where you can use it without having to expose it to the heat of cooking (as this destroys some of the vitamin B complex content)."
