Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Daiya Review: Nacho Usual Nasty Vegan Cheese

Mitch: Beanie, you remember Cheese, Rodney's kid brother? 
Dean Pritchard: Actually, my name's not Cheese anymore. It's Gordon Pritchard. 
Beanie: Oh yeah. Cheeeeeese. Yeah, didn't we lock you in a dumpster one time?
Old Skool (classic)


I don't usually like to eat animal product imposters because they are usually full of junk.  But I started to crave cheese when I first heard of Daiya.  I didn't go the dairy route for several reasons.  Including intolerance.  Some comedian said "Black people can't even walk down the dairy aisle."  A quick way to tell if you are lactose intolerant.  Do you like milk?  Ice-cream doesn't count.  Neither does cheese.  Because I say so.  They are delicious.


And like Daiya, I'm soy free.  And Gluten free.  One word.  Gas.


"So what do you eat?"  Lots of rice, potatoes, corn products, rice products, quinoa, vegetables, fruit.  Sometimes beans.  But they should ideally be soaked for a day before cooking.  Otherwise ,"Mylanta can help!"  Rarely, wheat products like regular pasta and bread.  Eating out:  Easiest are Mexican, Ethiopian, Asian.  Lol.  


So I decided to try Daiya, a relatively new product out on the market.  It is almost organic.  Daiya say, " It is still somewhat difficult to source organic gluten-free flours, it makes sense that not every gluten-free product, especially those that are sold on a large scale, is fully organic."  But soon it will be!


So delicious and relatively healthy.  Where most vegan cheeses are soy based and taste like "Whodoneit?"  Some of which don't even melt!  SMH.  It comes in Cheddar, Mozzarella, and PepperJack.  And you can freeze it!  Joy!  Some specialty pizza shops offer a vegan pizza using Daiya with a gluten-free crust option.  Like Pala in NYC.


Con: Remember that cheese commercial where the whiney kid lamented that Kraft's competitors were "made mostly of oil and waahter?"  Well that's one of the few drawbacks including that it's processed and the price.



Daiya is made entirely from plant-based ingredients and is:
  • Cholesterol free
  • Trans Fat free
  • Dairy free
  • Free of all animal products (Vegan)
  • Free of common allergens including:
    • Dairy (casein and lactose), soy, gluten, eggs, peanuts and tree nuts (excluding coconut)
  • Free of Artificial Ingredients
  • Free of Preservatives
  • Free of Hormones & Antibiotics
  • Kosher
The full list of ingredients are as follows:
Filtered water, tapioca and/or arrowroot flours, non-GMO expeller pressed canola and /or non-GMO expeller pressed safflower oil, coconut oil, pea protein, salt, vegan natural flavors, inactive yeast, vegetable glycerin, xanthan gum, citric acid (for flavor), titanium dioxide (a naturally occurring mineral).




Daiya.  What a cute baby name?

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