Vromages VegNature Vegan Cheese by Nancy Grenier

I was vegetarian for a number of years before going vegan and all I ate was cheese, glorious (at the time: cruelty-filled) cheese. My cholesterol was through the roof, as you might imagine.

 

Because I went vegan so long ago, there weren't very many suitable cheese substitutes on the market. After a couple of unfortunate and expensive run-ins with grey, gelatinous cheese from overseas, I resigned myself to living without it. But, not for long! I now have my fave brands for every occasion and THIS is my new fave "fancy" cheese (i.e. cheese you serve with crackers for company).

Long story short: my friend got me hooked on Vromages VegNature vegan cheese by Nancy Grenier, so now I'm going to tell you about it because I shouldn't be the only one consuming vast amounts of this delicacy.

There are 6 flavors of the "goat style firm" chevre (I just learned that's what chevre means) available ATM and I've tried three so far:

3 Peppers and Chives was really good.

 

Garlic and Leeks was even beter.

Tomatoes and Basil was the absolute favorite flavor of my whole family (yup, even my dad- who apparently eats vegan cheese now). This was off the charts fantastic; I could eat this every week! Every time I notice a box of crackers in my pantry, a sadness washes over me if I know I do not have any of this cheese on hand.

 

 
The three I haven't yet tried are:

Herbes de Provence and Onions- Imma have to try this soon; I love onions.

Nuts and Cranberries- No offense, but I think I'll pass on this one; I do not love cranberries.

Plain- What? That's like ordering vanilla from an ice cream shop full of fancy flavor. This ones for all you purists out there.

I've purchased or been gifted these cheeses from VGN MKT and Orchard Grocer. I would assume Riverdel carries it as well? Point being: go get you some! Who's fancy now? Vegans! That's who.

Beyond Burger- Quick Review (by a vegan and an omnivore)

It took me a bit of time to procure the Beyond Burger for two reasons.

1. I wasn't really sure I wanted to try it. Things that are "just like the real thing" aren't really marketed to me because I never liked meat.
   
2. Once it was hyped enough that I did want to try it (am I the only one who talks to people on line in the supermarket when their baskets are full of vegan stuff?), I couldn't find it. Pro-tip: not all supermarkets are stocking it in the meat department as originally stated. In fact, some Whole Foods' butchers will hotly contest it with you because "it's not meat." BUT, extra credit to Beyond Meat's uber-helpful stock guide (are you seeing this, Ben & Jerry's?) that confirms the item is in the store so that even if you can't find it, you can confidently ask for help.

But, I digress.

Ultimately, the Beyond Burger was found in the refrigerated veg section of the Whole Foods I was in: near Tofurky, Vegenaise, and the like. It looked as though it had been shipped frozen and, from what I can discern from the package, you can re-freeze it as long as it's not open (the package contains two burgers in a single, sealed compartment). Overall, pretty darn realistic-looking.

A lot of people reported a meat smell while cooking, but the smell I detected was relatively faint and kind of indescribable- albeit familiar. Perhaps beets? Certainly not unpleasant, just unusual.

Luckily, a friend had already cooked his Beyond Burger in a George Foreman grill only to watch all the juice/flavor drip out, so I was forewarned to use a frying pan (this was a winter-winter day as opposed to one of our recent spring-winter days, so the grill wasn't an option). Note: this is a small pan; the patty is a decent size, but not mammoth.

I don't really remember what a cooked cow burger looks like, but this looked pretty enticing.

And, even more so once dressed (sriracha ketchup, lettuce, FYH american cheese, pickles, no onions, on a sesame seed bun).

This isn't a great interior shot, but I hope you can see the texture of the burger, which was the most off-putting part for me. The burger itself had a very neutral taste, but the "mouthfeel" was too realistic for me: kind of granular-ly lumpy like chopped meat burgers.

I gave OD the other half of my burger to try- expecting him to take one bite and hand it back. Instead, he gobbled it up. I told him the one taste was enough for me and that I'd leave the other one in the fridge for him to have the next day. HE DID NOT PROTEST.

Because it was so obvious that he actually liked it, VM and I kept smirking. Because he can't stand smirking, he insisted that, although it was the best "veggie burger" he'd ever tried (highest compliment in all the land), he probably liked it mainly because of the toppings (big vegan cheese fan, OD?). So, I'd say this was a success.

This is no ordinary veggie burger, my friends. VM and I will stick to black bean-type burgers, but this could really be a game-changer for those looking to replicate meat.

Vegan Ziti Pie!

I came across this idea much like my pal, Somer McCowan, did: a quick glimpse of intrigue on Instagram that disappeared before I could delve further. Lucky for me, she did all the heavy lifting and I was able to sit back and simply wait for her to fine-tune the recipe and blog about it on Vedged Out before giving it a go myself.

It really was as simple as it seems...maybe moreso. And the fact that the first slice came out shaped like a heart certainly didn't make me love this recipe any less.

 

You'll have much more luck if you follow Somer's recipe; these are just my general notes for future pies:
 
I chose to use a large springform pan, lightly oiled. I boiled a box of rigatoni al dente, then rinsed them in cold water (VM's suggestion so I wouldn't burn my fingers) before standing them up snugly in the pan. This is disproportionately silly and fun, albeit slightly tedious.You will have some left over, so keep some extra sauce handy so that the excess noodles don't stick in a mass whilst your attention is on pie assemblage.

Next up I decided to add ricotta. I actually bought and filled a squeeze bottle all professional-like, only to find out that the store-bought ricotta was too dense to dispense properly. So, I did what any hungry person would do: I sprinkled it atop and smushed it lightly into the crevices with my fingers. Don't judge. In future, I'll make my own from Chloe's Vegan Italian Kitchen, which is much more pliable.

Next up was the sauce: the easiest part. I submitted my request to VM so she had a steaming pot ready for me upon arrival*: complete with sauteed peppers & onions and lots of red pepper flakes. I just kind of eyeballed the amount I poured in and reserved some to serve with the completed pie.

Finally, I generously sprinkled smothered mozzarella shreds over the whole darn thing. I never trust springform pans, so I always put them on a baking sheet. While this was pretty much the extent of the leakage, better on the pan than in the oven.

 

25 minutes in a 350 degree oven and I was rewarded with this glorious pie! Thankfully Somer suggested letting it sit for a couple of minutes before slicing; this gave me time to try and find the most flattering angle for this circular carb-fest.

It sliced like a charm and was rich and decadent. I can see how it would be much easier to make a simple pan of ziti, but a dense, cheesy pie of soldier rigatoni smothered in mom-made sauce is sure to impress anyone: I don't care who they are.

I do want to note that Somer also has a new cookbook out: The Abundance Diet, which is decidedly less calorie-dense, but just as delicious. Stay tuned for more on that, but feel free to pick it up in the meantime.

* I must admit that these super shiny pans are in her kitchen, not mine; OD gets all the credit for that.

Follow Your Heart Vegan Cheese Slices and Blocks

As a huge Follow Your Heart fan, I was absolutely thrilled when they offered to send me an assortment of their new sliced and block cheeses to sample and review.

 

You can choose from American, mozzarella, provolone (!), and garden herb...or you can just try them all. That's probably advisable; why limit yourself?

89 was as excited as anyone.

The first thing I did was to melt a portion of the American block and serve it as a dip. I immediately recognized those familiar American cheese notes and couldn't wait to explore the rest of the flavors.

In fact, later that same day (don't judge) I decided to check the meltability of the garden herb slices. Nine minutes at 400 degrees: perfect texture.

So impressive!

I was a tremendous provolone fan as a pregan and this was one of my favorite concoctions of the review: Eureka bread, Tofurky slices, slawsa, and FYH provolone. Full disclosure: this delicious combo took me through the rest of the package in no time.

I made quick work of shredding the mozzarella block for a homemade pizza.

Because I severely mishandled the dough, my pizza was mostly a disaster: except for the cheese (and copious amounts of red pepper flakes).

VM was so enamored with the mozzarella, in fact, that I made her roasted garlic bread with the slices soon thereafter and she positively swooned...and swore off other vegan mozzarella.

There was a bit of a FYH cheese flurry of obsession going on in my house for a good, long while. I even fell into a routine of eating cheese & crackers (then cheese & pretzels when I ran out of crackers) just.... whenever. It's really good!

And then I got a hold of myself. No snacking: just meals; this was important research! Next up: American & mayo! What's the tagline from the old Reese's peanut butter cup commercial old saying? Two great tastes that taste great together:

I lurve original vegenaise, so this was an inevitable pairing: reminiscent of my lunches at day camp (and 3 consecutive years thereafter; thanks, VM!).

I'm sorry this is upside down, but you get the gist. 89 was quite a fan herself (just a taste! I know it's not intended for dogs).

So there you have it. The Follow Your Heart sliced and block cheeses were a grand success.

Go get you some!

I think I'm the only person not in love with the Field Roast Chao cheese and that's....okay

I love vegan cheese.
I particularly love Dr. Cow and Treeline.
I love vegan cheese so much that I even love vegan cheese that I have to enjoy begrudgingly because it's produced by a cheese company who makes vegan cheese but is consistently disrespectful to their vegan clientele.

As you probably already know, Field Roast- purveyors of my favorite franks and my annual Thanksgiving roast, makes a new sliced cheese called chao. Sliced vegan cheese is a game changer!! I wanted to love it and was thrilled when I found it.

Because I wanted to present the illusion of self-control, I purchased only two of the three available cheeses: coconut herb with black pepper and tomato cayenne with spicy peppers, leaving the comparatively boring sounding creamy original on the shelf.

The slices were thicker than what I remember of the old, non-vegan, American cheese slices of my childhood. They also weren't individually wrapped- probably because they needn't be. Unlike said American cheese, chao slices aren't sweaty and damp. And remember how non-vegan cheese used to mysteriously adhere to surfaces...like plates? Obviously, I still have unresolved issues on the subject; it's because I find non-vegan cheese repulsive for a multitude of reasons: cruelty and grossness highest on the scale. But, in direct contrast, the chao slices are very appealing!

89 agrees.

We figured it was our duty to taste it plain; 89 went first and she was all about the tomato cayenne! Contrarily, she was not a fan of the coconut herb. She kind of rolled it around in her mouth and then spit it out, so I decided to forgo that portion of my taste-test.

I evenly prepared the simple components in anticipation of grilled cheese perfection- the ultimate cheese test.

I heated it in a 400 degree oven for 10 minutes: my usual grilled cheese m.o.

I let it sit for a minute or two, then assembled the sandwiches and let them sit for another minute or two so that the two sides would synthesize appropriately. The smell was extremely appetizing and I couldn't wait to dig in. I left my arugula and sliced tomato off to the side because I wanted my first taste to be all cheese.

When I took my first bite, a good ten minutes since removing the grilled cheese from the oven, the cheese squirted into my mouth like liquid in a most unpleasant way. No matter how long I let the sandwich sit, the cheese remained less viscous than I would have preferred- a consistency that prevented me from noticing anything else.

Undeterred, the next day I decided to get back to basics and try the slices plain. I had the same reaction as 89; the tomato cayenne had an amazing enough taste for me to look past the texture that wasn't authentic for me. I was less impressed with the coconut herb flavor, however, and found it to be a little on the rubbery side- something I hadn't noticed with the tomato cayenne.

When I made a second sammie I knew I wanted to cook the cheese less in the hopes of keeping it in solid form. I pre-toasted the bread a little (I like it toasty) and then melted the cheese on it for 8 minutes at 350 degrees. That did the trick. Melted this way it remained sufficiently solid and, served with the obligatory arugula and tomato as well as tomato soup, this was a major improvement over the previous attempt. The tomato cayenne flavor is totally spicy and delicious, but there's still something un-cheesy about the texture that I can't quite put my finger on. I want to love it but there is definitely a roadblock.

Next I decided to have an un-melted sammie with the coconut herb, arugula, and veganaise. It still just didn't do it for me. I might even go so far as to say it was a little pasty.

Ultimately, I finished up my preferred flavor, tomato cayenne, with another grilled cheese. I accidentally left it in a minute too long and wound up with another liquidy sandwich. I take full responsibility for this- particularly because I was aware of the issue and I should have been more careful, but frankly I can't deal with such finicky cheese!

In the time it's taken me to formulate this review, I've heard most people raving about the flavor that I neglected to buy: creamy original. Perhaps that's the missing link in all this? I'll give it a go next time I find it and will report back.

I do want to stress, though, that this is not a bad review. And that? Not a disclaimer. This just happens to be a product I didn't love, but I'm weighing in anyway because I'm an unfiltered blogger; it's what I do. I am 100% a fan of Field Roast as a company- both because I really enjoy many of their products and because I respect them as an ethical company.

Every once in a while there's some blogger backlash over "bad" reviews not being helpful to the vegan community and I just wanted to chime in that this type of admonition is misguided, in my opinion- particularly in the vegan community. Who says vegans have to love everything vegan? We don't. It's not giving your opinion that's bad for veganism; it's the actual bad vegan food, bad vegan service, and bad vegan products that are bad for veganism.

In this case, it's not that I think the chao cheese is bad; it's just not for me. And this is not to say that I wouldn't tell you if something was bad (duh) or suggest that you must believe something is bad because I deem it so. But I'm guessing you already knew that.

That being said, feel free to let me know if you love chao, because judging by my social media feeds I'm definitely in the minority!

Dr. Cow Storefront

I know it's hard to recall, particularly today, but this summer there were quite a few blazing hot days to contend with.  It was on one of these that I met a friend at the then relatively new Dr. Cow store.

I am a huge fan of Dr. Cow's stupendous, nut-based, local, vegan cheeses, so I couldn't wait to visit a shop dedicated not only to those I've come to know and love, but additional flavors I might not have tried yet.

 

After 2 drinks at the Vegan Shop-up at Pine Box, I staggered towards our meeting place in the relentless sun. After only one self-imposed break, I met up with my friend and we walked the remaining few blocks together. We were more than a little amused/dismayed to find that it was a tiny take-out shop (possibly the definition of quaint) rather than the exalted cheese cafe we'd been expecting.

While the cheese options were glorious, to say the least, there was no place- inside or out, to enjoy said cheese en site, which was exactly what we were intending to do. To make our ill-planning matters worse, the temperature did not lend itself to taking cheese to-go, as I was much farther from home than she was.  So, we stood for a while, glaring covetously at the vegan, butcher-type display of various hunks of gourmet, vegan cheese in multiple sizes*, shapes, colors, variations, and combinations: drooling.

The counterperson was kind enough to offer us some extremely yummy samples, but they were accompanied by her declarations of not being vegan and really liking the cheese anyway.  Not. Good. I mean, the cheese was outstanding, but the "non-vegan taste buds have superior expectations, so if we like it you know it's good" rap does not jive for me: particularly in an all-vegan establishment. (Does this impress omnis who wander into vegan joints? Discuss.)

They also had a selection of mini cookies and chocolates (also susceptible to melting; what is it with the foods I love being so downright delicate?), so I managed to uncharacteristically switch gears from savory to sweet and chose one to inhale on premise.

It was possibly the world's tiniest cookie, but after all the anticipation I couldn't have left the Dr. Cow shop empty-handed (get it? that's my palm) without feeling like a complete failure.

 

Now that the weather has, ahem, taken a turn...it's a good time to revisit and bring lots home.  You should do the same!  I mean, bring it to me.

*I have no idea how the varying assortment of cheeses come into cute existence in the Dr. Cow display. Where do the missing hunks go? Are their missing hunks, or are they "born" haphazardly? Inquiring minds...