The Wonders of Nutritional Yeast!

Who knew that adding such a simple ingredient to some of your favorite everyday snacks could take it up a notch? 

Happy August everyone! Now that summer is coming to an end, you know what that means! Our little ones are heading back to school - and will be needing delicious, healthy, and yummy after school snacks. In the spirit of celebrating my love of eating healthy and clean, I wanted to share three different options to make for your little ones. Each of these after school snacks are easy to make and will be perfect for all of your kids and for your kids at heart. For this blog, we will be talking about one of my all-time favorite ingredients; nutritional yeast! For those of you who are new to nutritional yeast - get ready for a whole new landscape of flavors. It is going to change how you snack and what you snack on.

Nutritional yeast is a deactivated yeast, meaning that their cells have been killed and are inactive by the time it arrives on the shelves of the grocery store. It has a delicious nutty, cheesy, and savory flavor and is a common substitute for cheese. But with something so delicious and nutritious, it won't feel like a substitute for anything! It also has an excellent source of vitamins and minerals too.

So, I decided to take after school snacking to the next level. I found these delicious recipes, and I cannot wait for my family to try all of them this school year. I hope you try them with me and share what your family thought about them! 

Recipe Number One: Cheeto Chickpeas
This delicious (and altogether very additive) snack takes you back to the original childhood snack. But now, ramping it up into a much healthier snack that you will be thrilled to serve to your family!

What you will need:

• 1 (15-ounce) can unsalted chickpeas, drained
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 3 tablespoons nutritional yeast
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon granulated garlic (no salt added)​

Directions:

• Start by preheating your oven to 400
• While preheating, line a baking sheet or cookie sheet with parchment paper
• Drain and rinse the chickpeas from the can in a colander. Pat them dry and allow them to continue to dry for another 5-10 minutes.
• Put the chickpeas in a large bowl with the olive oil and sea salt, tossing them until they are coated.
• Put the newly tossed chickpeas on the parchment paper and bake for 30 minutes.
• Every 10 minutes, toss them and put them back in the oven
• While the chickpeas are cooking, mix your Cheeto seasoning. Mix together the nutritional yeast, salt, and garlic in a bowl.
• When the chickpeas are cooked and crispy, remove them.
• Remove them from the baking sheet and into the bowl with your Cheeto mix
• Toss them in the Cheeto mix until they are totally coated
• Enjoy!

For our next snack, we will be taking a spin on another (healthier) snacking favorite: the Kale chip! But adding just a little bit of nutritional yeast will bring a whole new level of delicious to your next batch of Kale chips!!

What you will need:

• Kale (About 2 large stocks, that will yield about 4 cups worth of leaves) 
• Avocado Oil (1 tablespoon, plus a little extra on the side for your hands while prepping and cooking) 
• Nutritional yeast (1 1/2 tablespoon) 
• Garlic powder (1/2 teaspoon) 
• Cumin (1/t teaspoon) 
• Chili powder (1/4 teaspoon) 
• Cayenne (1/8 teaspoon) 
• Pink salt (to taste) 

Directions

• Being by heating your oven to 300. 
• Take a large baking sheet or cookie tray and line it with parchment paper. 
• Remove the leaves from the stock of the kale. Cut or rip the leaves into big pieces and let them dry. A salad spinner helps them dry faster and more efficiently. 
• Put the dry leaves in a bowl and pour on about a half tbs of the avocado oil onto the leaves. Massage the oil into the leaves and sprinkle on about 1 tbs of the nutritional yeast and all of the seasoning. 
• After massaging all of those seasonings on, oil your hands with the avocado oil, and massage in the rest of the nutritional yeast into the leaves. 
• Put all of the massaged, oiled, and seasoned leaves onto your baking tray and sprinkle on your allotted amount of pink salt. 
• Bake for 7 to 9 minutes, but watch closely, they can burn very quickly. 
• Cool and enjoy! 

This last snack recipe is one of my favorites. Movie theater popcorn smells SO delicious - but with all that butter on there, it'll stop you in your tracks. So why not try this delicious butter-free popcorn recipe instead? 

What you will need: 

• 1/3 cup of Nutritional Yeast
• 1 Teaspoon of fine sea salt, or as much as you'd like to taste 
• 3 Tablespoons of coconut oil, enough to coat the bottom of the pan 
• 1/2 Cup popcorn kernels 

Directions: 

• Put your nutritional yeast and salt into a large bowl or container with a lid 
• Heat your oil in a saucepan on medium heat, and add 3 to 4 kernels to the pan. Once those kernels start popping, add in the rest so they lay as a single layer on the bottom of the pan. Cover your pan with a lid and give it a shake so the kernels are covered with oil. 
• Once all the kernels start popping, sake your pan every 15 seconds so the un-popped ones fall to the bottom of the pan and pop as well. 
• Once all the kernels are popped, put the hot popcorn into the container of salt and nutritional yeast and shake until the kernels are all covered 
• Enjoy! 

I hope that your family enjoys these snacks as much as mine. If you're new to the world of nutritional yeast, welcome! I hope you love it as much as I do. There are so many ways to enjoy it in your meals and so many incredible was to use it. Explore these recipes and get creative - that's when some really delicious things happen in your kitchen!