Cheese! Cheese! Cheese!

Imagine walking into a grocery store to get inspiration on what to cook for dinner ….but as a vegan. The common misconception would be for you to make your way to the fresh food aisles, stocking up on the veggies and chickpeas. But instead you make your way to the cheese aisle.

Cheese- a subcategory of one of the most ingrained food groups in our daily diets. If you want to become vegan you don’t have to cut cheese out of your diet. Many people would be surprised to know that for every cheese product there is a vegan cheese equivalent. 

For people with dairy allergies, vegans by choice, or people just looking for dairy substitutes, discovering vegan replacement options can be key to maintaining your normal diet, minimizing change as you’re making the diet jump, and being exposed to a whole new world of recipes. 

Base cheese replacements: 

• Shredded Cheese 

• Sliced Cheese

• Cheese Block 

• Cheese Sticks 

Paninis, nachos, cheesy burgers and sliders, baked lasagnas, bean dip, and cheese fondue are all at your fingertips. 

Brands for the base cheese replacements: 

• Daiya 

• Chao creamery 

• Follow Your Heart

• Violife 

• True goodness 

• Treeline 

I have yet to try all of these brands products but my go to’s are Daiya or Chao. These brands have a variety of product lines: for example Daiya offers vegan pizza while Follow your Heart offers vegan mayo.

As I’ve done more research and had exposure to vegan minus nut products, I came across Treeline just a few weeks ago. Spreadable Goat Cheese with flavors including: garlic and basil, blueberry, and original. Spreadable Soft French-Style Cheese with flavors ranging from creamy scallion to herb garlic to chipotle serrano pepper to salt and pepper. Other products from Treeline include Cream Cheese, Aged Vegan Artisanal Cheese, and Gourmet Vegan Cheese-Reserve (True Blue-Blue Cashew Cheese and Bloomy Rind-Soft Ripened Cashew Cheese). In addition to cheese they have a page that shares vegan products from other companies that can be used for a charcuterie board. These products include vegan prosciutto from Mia, Fig Salami from Hellenic Farms, olives, figs, and artichoke brands. Treeline also has recipes that look delectable and categorized by each product they sell. You can also submit a recipe which to me instills the presence of a vegan community. I am really impressed by Treeline. 

I’m a 21 year old. That precarious edge in age where you're hanging between your childhood years and your future adult life. There's a combination of both on a daily basis. I admit I’ve been attempting to build healthy adult habits and prepare for that future life. One of these attempts has been trying to find a, as I call, “Kavina Dish”. This “Kavina Dish'' would -ideally- be a dish that I can cook to perfection and would tickle the taste buds of meat eaters, vegetarians, and vegans. I am still on the hunt for that dish-may be a while as I am a very intermediate cook lol! Websites like Nourishh and Treeline make this recipe hunt easier and could benefit you if you want to discover your “You Dish”!

Fancy cheese replacements: 

• Queso 

• Vegan cubed cheese by Nurishh

• String cheese diaya and miyoko 

• Babybel snacking cheese 

• Cream Cheese 

• Liquid vegan pizza mozzarella by Miyoko's Creamery 

• Creamy cheese by Violife 

• Mac and cheese frozen and boxed- diaya and sweet earth 

• Pizza 

• Flatbreads 

• Vegan mozzarella sticks by Wholly Veggie

• Vegan Pizza Pockets by Mickey’s and Gardein  

• Laughing Cow plant-based wedges 

• Blackbird Pizza 

Nurrishh is another brand that I recently came across. I really thought I had been familiar with most of the vegan cheese brands but this goes to show that there is a whole world waiting to be discovered. Every month new vegan brands are popping up and it's all for our consumption. These owners are taking the leap to take their passions and make it a reality-they’re paving the way for vegans and people with food allergies. It's really inspiring to me to reflect upon all of the business and restaurant owners who have been the first of their kind in the unknown vegan world. I aspire to bridge the gap between these revolutionaries and the vegan consumer by bringing all these innovative companies into the spotlight. Back to Nurishh! Hot pepper snack cubes, fresh and filling recipes, and an eye pleasing website with colors evoke your sense of happiness. 

Common grocery stores like Kroger, Meijer, Whole Foods, Plum Market, Target, etc have vegan cheese replacements. The possibilities each brand could expand to include products liek vegan cheesy broccoli soup and vegan family size lasagna or pasta bake. In cafes and restaurants more items can be veganized through the use of cheese alternatives: vegan pizza and slices sold at pizza chains, vegan paninis and wraps, vegan tortellini, and vegan desserts using vegan cream cheese.  

The world is not limited to you as a vegan, the food possibilities are truly endless.