Italian Sausage Stuffed Zucchini

Fellow gardeners, you know this tale well. You step away from your garden bed for 1 minute (or a weekend) and come back to find a monster zucchini hiding in the greenery.

Sometimes the plant warns you. Regular zucchini production starts slowing down, odd for early summer. The reason? All of the plant’s attention is going to feeding that one humungous baseball bat of a zuke.

Fortunately, those ginormous zucchinis are perfect for stuffing!

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What Is Nutritional Yeast and How Do I Eat It?

Many people say they can’t “go vegan” because they’ll miss cheese too much. Trust me, I hear you–Parmesan and brie will always be in my heart. However, apart from your taste buds acquiring different cravings as your diet shifts, there are plenty of vegan alternatives to make your cheese-loving self happy.

One of which is nutritional yeast.

What actually is nutritional yeast, anyway?

Known to some as “nooch,” nutritional yeast is a dried, dairy-free, gluten-free deactivated fungus that is sold in canisters at health food stores and jars in more traditional grocers. It looks like dry yellow flakes and tastes like a nutty, salty cheese.

It’s basically a healthy cheese you can sprinkle on whatever you want (think dried canned Parmesan but vegetarian and vegan). Try over popcorn or on roasted kale chips for easy snacks.

One tablespoon of nutritional yeast (from Bragg’s, which is also kosher) will get you a heaping serving of protein, riboflavin (B2), pyridoxine (B6), vitamin B12, zinc, thiamine, niacin, folic acid, pantothenic acid, and selenium. A serving of nutritional yeast atop any dish will automatically amp up your nutrient intake and make it all the more flavorful and delicious. While nutritional yeast is certainly healthy given its name, dairy-free and gluten-free eaters genuinely love it for its savory and cheesy flavor.

Added bonus: Nutritional yeast has a refrigerator or shelf life of two years.

Still unsure how to use nutritional yeast? Check out some recipes featuring it below.

Crispy Oil-Free Noochy Potatoes

Sweet Simple Vegan

Make this simple side dish featuring nutritional yeast, fresh dill, chives, garlic, and onion powder. Side note: A convection oven is recommended. Get the recipe.

Paper Bag Popcorn

Chowhound

Save money and add flavor by making your own microwavable popcorn at home. Add olive oil, salt, and nutritional yeast, and you’re good to go. Get our Paper Bag Popcorn recipe.

Baked Vegan Mac and Cheese

From My Bowl

This gluten-free and nut-free dish won’t have you missing dairy one bit. Mix nutritional yeast into the cheesy sauce, along with the crumbled, crispy topping. Get the recipe.

Versatile Vegan Quiche

Vegangela

This egg-less brunch dish uses tofu instead of the latter. Flavored with nutritional yeast, spinach, and tomatoes – feel free to fill with this version with  mushrooms, sun-dried tomato, basil, or wild mushroom with truffle oil and thyme instead. Get the recipe.

Vegan Lasagna

Chowhound

No, vegan lasagna is not an oxymoron. Cook this cheesy dish for dinner with star ingredients like nutritional yeast, eggplant, capers, and parsley. Get our Vegan Lasagna recipe.

Loaded Enchilada Pizza Pie

From My Bowl

It’s like a DIY for California Pizza Kitchen. This Mexican-inspired pizza is topped with a cheezy cashew cream sauce (with nutritional yeast), bell peppers, yellow onion, corn, and cilantro. Yum. Get the recipe.

Vegan Eggplant Meatballs

Sweet Simple Vegan

Get the meat-like texture you may enjoy by combining chickpeas, eggplant, and tempeh. Oh yeah, of course nutritional yeast is in there too. Get the recipe.

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When It Comes to Sustainable Seafood, Luke’s Lobster Is on a Roll

There was a time in the not-so-distant past when ordering lobster from a restaurant menu felt like an extravagant indulgence. Luke’s Lobster flipped this script after opening their East Village “shack” in 2009, offering (for what seemed like the first time) affordable, sustainable, and delicious lobster rolls without the pretentiousness of fine dining.

Flash forward eight years later and the tiny shop has now evolved into an expanding business with 23 stores, seafood fishing company Cape Seafood, and a commanding presence in Japan’s uber-competitive food market.

“It was an immediate hit, which was kind of a shock to us,” says co-founder Ben Conniff. “We weren’t necessarily expecting that.”

Conniff, along with fellow co-founder Luke Holden, may not have anticipated the company’s overnight success, but they’ve managed it seamlessly. At almost 500 employees, it’s the longstanding culture that Conniff credits for sales and a committed staff, along with the quality product that aligns with their values and overall mission: bringing traceable sustainable seafood to guests across the country.

“It’s been a really exciting challenge to learn what it means to oversee a business and to keep everybody interacting on the same page,” he says. “[Our goal is] to preserve the amazing culture that we had from day one and make sure that everybody feels just as important to this company as one of 500 as they did when they were one of eight.”

We sat down with Conniff to delve deeper into his unique business model, including a look at how Luke’s Lobster originated and where they stand today. Check out the video above for the words of wisdom (which doesn’t include taking sides over whether lobster tastes better with melted butter or mayonnaise. We vote for the former.).

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How To Open and Prepare a Coconut

Coconut milk is currently one of the food world’s culinary darlings, but in spite of its popularity, cracking the coconut and separating the snow white flesh from its shell can be an intimidating prospect. And once we’ve won the battle with the shell, there’s also the question of how to separate the meat from the tough brown layer it’s attached to. 

In spite of how intimidating cracking a coconut can be, with a little kitchen know-how and a few simple tools, it’s not as challenging as it first appears. In addition to how flavorful fresh coconut meat can be, there’s also the added bonus of its high nutritional content.

Coconut is high in fiber, potassium, magnesium, calcium and copper. Coconut water is an efficient way to stay hydrated and may be a way to combat diabetes, kidney stones, and certain forms of cancer.

Coconut water is not the same thing as coconut milk. To prepare coconut milk once you’ve separated the flesh from the shell, blitz it in a blender at high speed with enough filtered water to achieve the consistency you desire. The result is a healthful drink that is perfect for smoothies or enjoyed just as it is.

Here’s how to crack that (coco)nut:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Coconut cracking veterans might advise to break open the shell using nothing but a sharp knife and a deft blow, but because of the fruit’s shape and hardness, it’s best to play it safe by using a flathead screwdriver and hammer to get inside. Locate the three “eyes” at the base of the coconut and tap each one with the screwdriver to determine which is the softest.
3. Once you’ve located it, place the screwdriver firmly at its center, hold the coconut firmly with one hand, and twist the screwdriver until it’s made its way through the flesh of the coconut. Tap the screwdriver with a hammer a few times if the coconut shell proves too firm.
4. Turn the coconut over into a bowl to collect the residual water, reserving it for a nutritious drink later on. Return the screwdriver to the hole and pry the shell open until it splits in half.
5. Arrange the shell halves, open-side-up, on a baking sheet and bake for ten minutes. This step will loosen the meat from the shell.
6. Once the coconut is cool enough to handle, use the screwdriver or a butter knife to separate the meat from the shell and enjoy.

And here are six ways to enjoy your newly liberated coconut:

1. Coconut Baked Onion Rings

Running To The Kitchen

Baking onion rings in coconut instead of frying them in standard breading makes them both healthier and more uniquely flavored than the usual onion ring incarnation. Get the recipe.

2. Spicy Thai Coconut Chicken Soup

Community Table

This soup comes together in a few easy steps that belie the complex flavors of a dish that is all at once comforting and transporting in its texture and umami notes. Get the recipe.

3. Seared Tofu with Green Beans and Asian Coconut Sauce

Even if you’re not a vegetarian, this pleasing dish with its green beans, bell peppers, silky tofu, and sweetened sauce is a welcome way to lay off the meat and indulge in a high-protein alternative.  Get the recipe.

4. Coconut Shrimp with 2-Ingredient Dipping Sauce

Natasha’s Kitchen

The fun twist in this recipe is an apricot-sweet chile sauce that pairs perfectly with velvety shrimp coated in a crunchy-sweet coconut breading. Get the recipe.

5. Coconut Rice

This sweet coconut rice could serve as the foundation for a cozy dessert, an inviting breakfast, or act as an unexpected base to a spicy Thai curry. Get our Coconut Rice recipe.

6. Christmas Coconut Cake

Chowhound

This cake is a festive and sophisticated way to conclude a holiday dinner, celebrate a birthday, or make an ordinary meal feel special. Get our Christmas Coconut Cake recipe.

— Head photo: Pixabay.

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Homemade Speculoos Ice Cream

Biscoff cookies, whether real or copycat, give this silky ice cream an intriguing caramel flavor, while dairy dilutes the spices into something mellow and mild. With a shot of espresso, it makes an amazing twist on affogato. Get Recipe!

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Happy 20th Anniversary, Chowhound!

It’s hard to believe that the World Wide Web just celebrated its 28th birthday in March. We can still hear the dial-up modem of AOL’s past as we dominated Slingo tournaments, scoured the net for Britney Spears photos, and clicked through recipes highlighting purple ketchup.

In July 1997, Chowhound became part of this unique, albeit weird and limited digital landscape with a single purpose: to help others find culinary treasures through honest recommendations shared in interactive community message boards.

A snapshot of Chowhound’s first post from July 2, 1997.

One million threads, ten million comments, 800,000 members, and 20 years later, Chowhound has expanded its scope to become one of the most respected, trusted, and engaging authorities of food and dining. We’ve cooked, shared, and discussed thousands of recipes from more than 120 cookbooks in our Cookbook of the Month tradition, inspired dinner plans with 80,000+ dishes in What’s for Dinner?, organized more than 400 Chowdowns, and curated articles, slideshows, city guides, and videos with the sole purpose of connecting readers to informative and fun content. Additionally, we’ve introduced members to chefs and cookbook authors through Table Talk Q&A series and, most importantly, we’ve introduced Chowhounds to each other.

“It was a fun, kooky project, never intended to blow up so large or to last so long,” said site founder Jim Leff. “To me, the fact that Chowhound even still exists is a miracle. How many websites from 1997 are still out there, serving their original mission?”

As we celebrate 2017’s halfway mark and two decades of delicious eats, we have one important person to thank for the site’s success: you. Whether you’re an active participant in the community, a loyal reader, or just visiting the site for the first time, your love and unyielding passion for food and this ever-changing industry is what inspires us to keep creating.

Here’s to another 20 years of celebrating the tastes, bites, sips, and dips that bring us all together. And cheers to you, Chowhounds. May your wine glasses and stomachs be far, far from empty.

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Great America Tea with Lemon

The limited-edition flavor is 14% alcohol by volume and packaged in six-packs of 23.5-ounce mason jars.

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Uncle Matt's Organic Joins Dean Foods

Dean Foods Company announced that it has acquired Uncle Matt's Organic®, an organic juice company. Uncle Matt's Organic will continue operating the business out of its offices in Clermont, Fla., as a subsidiary of Dean Foods Company.

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Verday Blueberry

The fifth flavor in the Verday lineup is Blueberry

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Soylent Cafe Line Flavors

These selections join Coffiest in Soylent's new Cafe line of caffeinated beverages, now available for purchase at www.soylent.com in the US and Canada. 

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