Garlic and Walnut Herb Sauce with Nutritional Yeast

Garlic and Walnut Herb Sauce with Nutritional Yeast

 Makes 1 cup

Ingredients

• 5-6 garlic cloves, peeled and the hard stem base is removed
• ⅔ cup unsalted walnut pieces
• 1½ cup tightly packed fresh parsley ( 1½-2 ounces w/ stems)
• ½ cup tightly packed fresh basil (a bit over ½ ounce w/ stems)
• ¼ cup nutritional yeast (picture posted below)
• ¾ cup extra-virgin olive oil (plus 2 tablespoons if a more liquid sauce is desired)
• 1½ tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• ¼ teaspoon salt

Optional: ⅛ teaspoon cayenne (resist the temptation to add a lot more cayenne since it will mute the herb and nutty flavors)

Prep Steps:

1. Add the garlic and walnuts to a blender and pulse a few times for a course mixture.
2. Rinse and dry the herbs. Destem the herbs, but some of the thinner parsley stems won’t be a problem.
3. Add the herbs, nutritional yeast, olive oil, lemon juice and salt. Blend until sauce is smooth.
4. Serve immediately. If storing in the refrigerator for later use, place plastic wrap directly on the exposed surface area to reduce oxidation which will turn the bright green color to a more muted army green color.

Garlic and Walnut Herb Sauce

• Nutritional yeast provides the full range of essential amino acids, but most importantly (since it has to taste good!), it offers savory umami attributes due to glutamic acid.
• In this recipe, the perception of umami is further triggered by the use of walnuts, also high in glutamatic acid.
• Nutritional yeast adds salty notes to the sauce despite its minor sodium contribution of 5 mg for 3 tablespoons. Three tablespoons of this brand also offers a nice fiber boost at 5 grams.

I used KAL Brand of Nutritional Yeast Flakes purchased from Whole Foods and available in bulk at some grocery stores. I have no preference for brands; however, there are some taste, texture and quality differences.