I marinated about six sweet potatoes, chopped like French fries, in one tablespoon olive oil, salt, pepper and a spray of cooking spray. I then cooked them at 450 degrees until they were somewhat crispy, and flipped half way through.

What is nutritional yeast (or “nooch” as it is lovingly called in the vegan blog community)? It is a deactivated yeast that comes in flakes that look like fish food (as my friend Michelle says) in both color and consistency. It has a nutty, almost cheese-like taste, that makes it perfect as a topping for veggies and pizza. One of the perks? “It is a source of protein and vitamins, especially the B-complex vitamins and is a complete protein. It is also naturally low in fat and sodium. Some brands of nutritional yeast, though not all, are fortified with vitamin B12. The vitamin B12 is produced separately from bacteria and then added to the yeast” (from Wikipedia here). You can find it in the bulk bins or pre-packaged at Whole Foods. Note: Nooch has about 50 calories per two tablespoons. I used only one tablespoon over my serving.

Potato starch isn’t the healthiest thing to add to a dish, but I read in Vegetarian Times that if you add just a little to your cut-up sweet potatoes before baking they will come out crispier. I didn’t notice much of a difference, but maybe it’s because I only used a few teaspoons?

I also topped off my cooked sweet potato fries with some grated mozzarella flavor “soy vegan block” from Galaxy Nutritional Foods. I don’t like the smell of this faux cheese and the taste alone is err…moldy-ish… But when it’s grated on top of sweet potatoes with nooch, you can’t tell! lol So you can just enjoy the texture instead. Per 1 oz: 45 calories, 2g fat, 150mg sodium, 0g fiber, 2g protein

The dish was amazing and tasted a bit like cheese fries! Mmm next time I’ll add some vegan chili!

Ever used nooch? Vegan soy block “cheese”? Potato starch? What’s your favorite way to make sweet potatoes?

In the News (Interesting Links I Want to Share)

• Is agave nectar really just high fructose corn syrup masquerading as a health food? (via That’s Fit here)
• Did you see that Kevin Smith, of Silent Bob, got kicked off Southwest Airlines for being too “fat”? (via Jezebel here)
• Is “orthorexia” (obsessively shunning foods deemed unhealthy) a legit eating disorder? (via Time Magazine here)
• USDA dairy and livestock will get tighter rules on fitting the “organic” bill (via The Huffington Post here)
• An interview with my <3, Michael Pollan (via Alternet here)

<3,

The Cranky One