Monday, March 09, 2009

Kids Can Cook

I bought my first canister of nutritional yeast at the health food store the other day. Because I am Crunchy Granola. It should last a long time, though.

Why did I buy nutritional yeast? Because it is a widely-used cheese (flavor) substitute. And because I wanted to try a cheese sauce from Kids Can Cook: Vegetarian Recipes by Dorothy R. Bates. This is a vegetarian/vegan cookbook with lots of old favorites in it: Cocoa Pudding Cake, Magic Coconut Pie, Blueberry Muffins, Monkey Pull Apart Bread, Vegetable Soup, etc. There are also some easy vegan recipes like Tofu Pot Pie and Melty Cheeze Sauce. Almost all of the ingredients in the easy-to-follow recipes can be found at any grocery store, and the recipes are kid friendly. We're very happy with this cookbook and have been using it frequently since it arrived last week. My only complaint is that the recipes calling for tofu ("Toofuuu!") don't indicate what variety (soft, firm, extra firm) is best. Also, the black and white photos of kids cooking are quite dark and hard to see, if you care about that sort of thing.

Melty "Cheeze" Sauce from Kids Can Cook

"Mix in a 1-quart saucepan
1/2 cup nutritional yeast flakes
1/2 c. cornstarch
2 T. flour
1 t. salt

Whisk in:
2 c. water
1/2 c. canola oil
1 t. wet mustard

Cook and stir until the sauce thickens and bubbles. It will get thicker as it cooks and can be thinned down with a little more water."

We served this sauce with a dinner of ham, broccoli, and baked potatoes. The kids liked it; Scott thought it needed more flavor. I might add a little cayenne or something next time.



This review was written for Go Dairy Free.

6 comments:

  1. Hey thanks for the recipe.
    I'm gonna go out and find some nutritional yeast!

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  2. Mmmmmm... cheeze sauce. I could think of lots of things to put that on!

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  3. Hmmm. Sounds interesting. Thanks for the recipe!

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  4. Oh this is perfect! I've been trying to find a way to make Tuna Casserole for my husband that my daughter could also eat. This could be the answer to my dilemma.

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  5. Thanks for the recipe! Do you think it would work for "mac n cheese"? I have yet to find a good recipe for that... I've tried nutritional yeast, almond butter, and even melted some straight dairy free cheese. I have yet to try any of the tahini recipes for cheese, though - have you?

    I've got lots of N yeast in my fridge - I put it lots of things and always love the additional flavor it brings, but I think it's more "nutty" than "cheesy". Maybe it's just my tastebuds... :P

    sorry for the ramble...

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  6. We buy bulk premixed Chreese powder but my son would love to mix up his own. I have to let him try this.

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