Maiden Voyage of Nutritional Yeast

I've never used nutritional yeast - until today. I've wanted to try it, but I haven't been able to find it in my area. Today, Husband and I drove up to his old college stomping grounds and while we were in the area, we went to a local co-op grocery store that specializes in organic foods. It is also very veg-friendly. I ended up with a jar of gomachio and a small sack of nutritional yeast (from the bulk foods aisle). Success!

Now...what to do with it? I've run across many recipes that call for nutritional yeast but didn't really know where to start. I figured macaroni and "cheese" was a good option, but I didn't really feel like making a pasta. So I found the Macaroni and "Cheese" recipe in Robin Robertson's Vegan Planet and tweaked it a bit - using my favorite brown rice/wild rice mix and adding some veggies. The result - pretty tasty, although I think it needs more nutritional yeast or cayenne pepper or something to give it a little more zip. Also, I didn't have all the ingredients in my pantry that you need for Robertson's recipe, so I improvized. Here is the result...

Wild Rice Casserole
1 pkg. brown and wild rice mix (North Country brand)
1/2 cup frozen peas
1 cup frozen green beans
1/4 cup shredded carrots
2 tbsp. olive oil
1/2 cup chopped, frozen onion
2 cups soy milk
1 12 oz. pkg. extra firm tofu, drained
1 tbsp. lemon juice
6 tbsp. nutritional yeast
1 tbsp. dijon mustard
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
salt to taste
1/4 cup cornmeal

In a large saucepan, prepare the rice mix according to package instructions. When the rice mixture is done, take the lid off the saucepan, add the peas, green beans and carrots and put the lid back on to thaw the frozen vegetables. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. In a small skillet, heat the oil over medium heat, add the onion and saute until softened, about 5 minutes. Put the sauteed onion in a blender with the soy milk, tofu, lemon juice, nutritional yeast, mustard, cayenne, nutmeg and salt. Blend until smooth. Pour mixture over rice and vegetables and stir well to combine. Pour all into an oiled casserole dish and sprinkle the top with cornmeal. Cover with tin foil and bake for 25 minutes. Remove the foil and bake another 10 minutes. Done!

Amaranth Casserole

I had some amaranth in my cabinets but didn't know what to do with it. I bought it about six months ago and cooked it once, but I didn't know what to expect - it cooks up a bit like polenta. So, feeling creative, I thought I'd attempt a layered casserole. I based a lot of the recipe on one for lasagna that I found at the Fat Free Vegan website. My recipe is pretty tasty (I think the soy sausage makes it), but made a mess out of my kitchen because I had to use so many pots, pans and bowls.

Amaranth Casserole
Layer #1
3 cups water
1 cup amaranth
1 tbsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
1 1/2 tsp. Italian seasoning

Bring water to a boil. Add all other Layer #1 ingredients. Cover; lower heat to medium low. Cook for 30 minutes. Stir thoroughly when done.

Layer #2
1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1/2 lb. fresh sliced mushrooms
4 soy breakfast sausage links, sliced thin
1 jar pasta sauce
1 can sliced black olives, drained

Cook oil, mushrooms and soy sausage in frying pan. When mushrooms are beginning to soften, add pasta sauce and olives. Warm through.

Layer #3
10 oz. pkg. frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
1 lb. firm tofu, drained
2 tbsp. plain soymilk
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. dried basil
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper

Mash all Layer #3 ingredients together.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a casserole dish with non-stick spray and layer ingredients as follows: 1/3 of Layer #1, 1/2 of Layer #2, 1/2 of Layer #3. Repeat once again, then top with remaining 1/3 of Layer #1. Cover casserole dish with foil, bake for 15 minutes. Remove foil; bake an additional 15 minutes.