DAY 8
But I Love Cheese (TOO MUCH!)
GOAL FOR THE DAY: Introduce your taste buds to vegan cheese.
Well, today is the big day! Say vegan cheeeeese! Are you smiling? I sure hope so, because there are plenty of reasons to put a big grin above that chin. Let me tell ya, when I went vegan there was no such thing as vegan cheese, not even gross vegan cheese. Well, there was one funky creation called Soymage made by Galaxy Nutritional Foods in the ‘80s, but the reaction from those who dared to taste it was so horrible that I’m not sure if you can even classify it as any type of cheese at all: “I am STILL trying to get the horrible taste out of my mouth! Yuck! I will NEVER eat that stuff EVER again!”1 and “I would rather eat packing peanuts than the Soymage vegan cheese.”2 Vegan “Sheese” emerged in Scotland in 1988, but most of us didn’t have Internet at home back then, so who knew? And even if we did, how many folks could fly to Scotland to pick up a chunk of cheese? “Oh, Brabinger, daaahling, please fetch the jet and fly me to Glasgow. I fancy a piece of vegan cheese.” Nope. No one did that.
Oh man, those early days of vegan cheese were bad, bad, bad. I remember the first time I bought vegan cheese. I don’t recall the brand, but I remember being so excited about it. I longed for the ooey, gooey, melty, slightly salty, greasy flavor I enjoyed so much during my early college years. I’d always grab a big slice of Blondie’s Pizza each afternoon as I walked along Berkeley’s Shattuck Avenue, lugging my heavy books back to the dorm. Finally, I thought, finally, I’d have cheese good enough for a pizza again. But as anyone who was vegan in the ‘90s knows all too well, vegan cheese of yesteryear not only didn’t taste good, it didn’t melt. It just sat there in the same shape no matter what you did to it. I tried baking it in the oven, melting it in a saucepan, nuking it in the microwave, grating it, slicing it, chopping it, and heating it over and over again, but to no avail; it would not melt. It would just get an ultraglossy sheen, shinier than any top coat of nail polish, and then sit there in full form looking at me like I was a fool for ever thinking there was such a thing as vegan cheese. Vegan cheese?! That tastes good? And melts, too? Muhahahaaaa.
Today, it’s a whole new world. Vegan cheese is everywhere, and some of it is damn good. During the past ten years, Google searches containing the term “Vegan Cheese” have increased by 833 percent.3 Why? Because everyone’s writing, reading, and talking about making, eating, and enjoying vegan cheese. Like I said, it’s that good. So good that I’m going to skip telling you why it’s better than dairy cheese for a moment, and just dive right in and tell you all about it. It’s so exciting!
Everyone’s taste buds are different, so what I think is super yum, you might think is blah, and vice versa. I don’t like anything mint flavored, stevia makes me want to vomit, and I can’t stand seaweed (yep, my buds are quite unique!). But I’ve got to say, I do have some favorites when it comes to vegan cheese. For sandwiches I enjoy Field Roast Grain Meat’s Chao Cheese, and I have to admit, I took more than my fair share of allotted samples at this year’s Natural Products Expo West … shhh. And Follow Your Heart’s Provolone is tasty, too. When it comes to melting on pizza, Daiya (pronounced day-ah) Shreds are “ah-mAy-zing!” That’s what they use on Amy’s Kitchen’s Vegan Margherita frozen pizza, too. And remember that Galaxy Nutritional Foods’ Soymage that no one liked in the ‘80s? Well, flash forward a few decades, and they’ve changed their product name to “Go Veggie!” (smart move!), and also make a super-flavorful, vegan, Chive and Garlic Cream Cheese that pairs perfectly with a warm bagel for breakfast. Kite Hill also makes a delicious Chive Cream Cheese Style Spread. Trader Joe’s Vegan Cream Cheese Alternative is pretty darn awesome, too. It’s very creamy, doesn’t have any artificial flavors, colors, or preservatives, and for under three bucks, I think it’s a good deal.
Now, if that wasn’t enough to put your fear of losing dairy cheese at ease, hold on to your hats, folks, the next one on the chopping block might just blow you away: Miyoko’s Kitchen Cultured Nut Products (They can’t be called “cheese” by law. Oy.) I don’t even know where to begin. Let me just start by saying if you find Miyoko’s cultured nut products, you should try them. I’ve never, ever, tasted anything so close to dairy cheese as these magical, flavorful, wheels of pure heaven. And it’s not just me who thinks so. My husband was floored when he tried them, and I drove a few wheels of cheese three hours to my dairy cheese–loving in-laws to sample in gold rush country, and let’s just say there wasn’t a smidgen of cheese left for the drive back home. They loved it!
When I learned of Miyoko’s cheese, I reached out to hear more, and she was kind enough to invite me up to Marin County for a visit. I didn’t realize until I set out that day that Miyoko’s Kitchen is tucked away behind a little bicycle museum, on the very same street where I went to elementary school over forty-four years ago. The visit was both nostalgic and fun. I put on a hairnet and designated rubber shoes, and was escorted into an aerated room filled with columns of metal shelving, where hundreds of little wheels of cultured nut products were ripening away. Imagine an ancient alchemist laboratory, only impeccably organized, sanitary, and bright, where a wondrous array of flavors, all chosen with fine skill, mingle together until fine perfection. You see, Miyoko isn’t just a newbie cook trying to cash in on the unstoppable vegan wave; she’s a self-taught chef extraordinaire who is an expert in French, Italian, and Japanese cuisine. Her previous culinary accomplishments are beyond impressive, and yet even so, I don’t think anyone was expecting vegan “cheese” to ever be this good.
Miyoko’s cultured nut products range from delicate and creamy to pungent and hard with flavors that can go up, cracker to cracker, against any of the gourmet dairy cheese big boys, if they dare. As you transition from dairy cheese to vegan cheese, consider swapping out your fancy cheese for one of these: Classic Double Cream Chive, Double Cream Sundried Tomato Garlic, High Sierra Rustic Alpine, Fresh Loire Valley in a Fig Leaf, Mt. Vesuvius Black Ash, French Style Winter Truffle, Aged English Sharp Farmhouse, Aged English Smoked Farmhouse (my favorite!), Country Style Herbes de Provence, or Double Cream Garlic Herb. They’re available online and in hundreds of stores. Keep an eye out for the new fresh VeganMozz that melts and browns, too!
Looking for a few more options? Try these:
FANCY CHEESE
Tofutti Milk Free Better Than Ricotta
Tofutti Mascarpone
Kite Hill
Treeline Cheese
Dr. Cow
Miyoko’s Kitchen
CREAM CHEESE
Parmela Creamery Creamy Cheese Spread
Go Veggie Cream Cheese
Kite Hill Cream Cheese Style Spread
Nutty Cow Nut Cheese Spread (a variety of flavors)
Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese
Chia Craft NOT Cream Cheese Spreads
Violife Creamy (dairy-free cream cheese)
PARMESAN CHEESE
Follow Your Heart Parmesan
Go Veggie (Vegan Grated) Parmesan
Parmela Creamery Parmesan
Parma! Vegan Parmesan
Violife Prosociano (with Parmesan Flavour)
Follow Your Heart Go Veggie!
CHEESE BLOCKS
Daiya
Follow Your Heart
Heidi Ho
Bute Island Foods Sheese
Heidi Ho
Nacho Mom’s
MAC AND CHEESE
Annie’s Vegan Mac & Cheese (box)
Road’s End Vegan Mac & Chreese (box)
Earth Balance Vegan Mac and Cheese (box)
Amy’s Vegan Mac and Cheese (frozen)
DAIRY CRACK
If you can’t find a vegan cheese that you like, it might not be that you’re just too picky, but more likely that you’re hooked. Cheese really isn’t that attractive, at least not compared to a frosted cupcake or even a fresh ripe peach. Sometimes cheese is filled with holes, or even mold, and people still gobble it up. Can you imagine people feeling the same way about a moldy bowl of gumbo or a moldy jar of spaghetti sauce? Eeww! As for smell, well, “OK, who cut the cheese?” didn’t come about because it smells like fresh-baked cookies. The incredibly pungent scent probably explains why I’ve never come across a cheese-scented candle or any eau de fromage perfume. And yet most people just can’t seem to get enough of the cholesterol-laden, saturated fat–filled, antibiotic-infested, chunk of stinky, coagulated cow excretion: aka, good ole’ dairy “cheese.”
So what gives? Why is cheese the most difficult thing to kick for so many folks who are transitioning to becoming vegan? Well, thanks to science, we have a pretty good idea why. It involves a group of proteins called casein, that’s commonly found in the milk from mammals. In 1981, scientists in North Carolina discovered that when your body digests casein, it breaks up into fragments, which release casomorphines.4 It doesn’t take a PhD in linguistics to see a word embedded in “casomorphines” that sounds an awful lot like a highly addictive drug. At first it sounds crazy; what the heck is morphine-like doing in cheese? Well, there’s actually a good reason for it, and it all goes back to the mama cow and baby cow bond that we talked about during the chapter on milk. A mother’s milk is made for her babies, and it’s believed that milk has the addictive properties of opiates to make extra sure that babies crave their mother’s milk; it’s a product of evolution and the need to survive. Now kick it up a notch, and imagine how concentrated those casomorphines must get in a wheel of Brie or Camembert knowing that it can take ten gallons of milk to produce one pound of cheese.5 Yep, you’re pretty much high as a kite after eating the blasted cheese, without even knowing it. OK, well, maybe just buzzed, but you get the point: it makes you feel groovy, and you want more, more, more!
OK! Are you ready? Here’s how you can ditch dairy cheese with ease:
MAKE YOUR OWN VEGAN “CHEESY” STUFF AT HOME
NUTRITIONAL YEAST: I don’t know of any vegan who doesn’t have a jar, or more likely a giant tub, of nutritional yeast in their pantry. The name “nutritional yeast” sounds too healthy to be tasty, and its biological name, saccharomyces cerevisiae, sounds even worse, but let me tell you, this stuff can make a lackluster meal into scrumptious chow in a jiff. It has a je ne sais quoi about it that satiates even the most picky of vegans when they crave the taste of cheese, and coaxes even non-vegans into a second helping. So what is this stuff? It’s a bacteria that’s usually grown on sugar cane or beet molasses, and unlike the yeast that grows in bread as it rises, or beer as it ferments, nutritional yeast is washed, dried, and deactivated before being sold. And yes, in case you’re wondering, vegans are a-OK with killing single-cell bacteria; we’re compassionate, not crazy.
In addition to being “cheesy” it’s been described as nutty with a pleasant savory taste, similar to umami. I use nutritional yeast almost every day. You can find it in grocery stores worldwide, either on the shelves, or in the bulk section. And if you can’t find it locally, you can always order it online, often at a better price. I usually wait for it to go on sale at Vitacost.com, then buy a big 22-ounce tub of it, which lasts for months. It’s great on stir-fries, soups, stews, pasta, for mac and cheese, and in sauces to complement veggies, like asparagus and cauliflower. It also works wonders in mashed potatoes, too, either combined or as part of an easy-to-make gravy on top. Spoiler Alert: Gravy Recipe coming up here! You can even sprinkle it on popcorn for a cheese-flavored snack. Love this stuff!
What’s extra cool about nutritional yeast is not only is it tasty, it’s also really healthy, especially if you use one that’s fortified with vegan B12. All brands differ a bit, but here’s an example of just some of the nutrients in the one that’s currently in my kitchen. We sprinkle it on just about everything that’s not sweet.
BOB’S RED MILL LARGE FLAKE NUTRITIONAL YEAST
Serving Size: ¼ cup (15g)
Protein: 8g; Thiamin; 790% RDV;
Riboflavin: 570% RDV; Niacin: 230% RDV;
Folate: 270% RDV; Vitamin B6: 300%
RDV; Vitamin B12: 290% RDV
HOMEMADE NUT CHEESE: A second option for those who prefer to make their own cheese-flavored snack is to experiment with nuts. There are a bazillion nut cheese recipes online and they’re very easy to make. They don’t taste exactly like dairy cheese, but in my opinion, they taste much better. They still give you that fatty, salty taste you crave, only this time, it’s from healthy plant fats instead of unhealthy fat shed from animals; and of course, zero cholesterol. Here’s an easy recipe to try. It’s not only delicious, but also makes a beautiful presentation!
Soft-Crusted Cashew Cheese
SERVES 2
½ cup cashews, soaked
3 tablespoons nutritional yeast
1 tablespoon lemon kombucha or fresh lemon juice
1 garlic clove
1 tablespoon capers (optional)
4 Kalamata olives, pitted ¼ teaspoon sea salt
2 sprigs fresh rosemary, stems removed, needles chopped (or any dried herb you enjoy)
1. In a nonreactive bowl, soak the cashews overnight in the water.
2. The next morning, rinse and drain the cashews and transfer to the bowl of a food processor.
3. Add all the remaining ingredients, except for the rosemary, to the bowl of the food processor with the cashews and blend to the desired consistency, enough that it will stick together when shaped. Add a little more lemon juice if needed.
4. Using a melon baller, scoop out the cheese in balls and place on a plate.
5. Gently press the chopped rosemary on top of the cheese balls. Serve with crudités or crackers.
□ Did you find a vegan cheese you enjoy, or make your own nut “cheese”?
□ Did you experiment making a meal or snack with nutritional yeast?
□ Are you still avoiding dairy milk, eggs, and other animal products?
□ Did you exercise today?
Thought FOR THE Day
When you’re vegan, no matter how bad your day goes, you always know you’re making someone else’s day a little bit better.