Cheese review

As I talked about in one of my previous posts, I recently got to the stage in the 20/20 program where I can have cheese. Because of my cow-cheese allergy, I stocked up on some wonderful goat cheeses, and decided to try a rice cheese and an almond cheese. I was very skeptical about the non-dairy cheeses. After my experience with Boca burgers, I wasn't really sure that I'd be able to get past the fact that they aren't really cheese from some kind of animal. And my vegetarian friends mostly told me that I shouldn't expect anything wonderful, so I wasn't getting my hopes up.

Tonight, I finally decided to give the non-dairy cheeses a try. First, the rice cheese: Galaxy Nutritional Food Rice Slices in Mozzarella Flavor. I can say that I'm definitely not a fan of this one, although I'm not sure whether it's because I don't like the cheese or because I don't like Mozzarella. Because I haven't had any kind of cow-cheese in so long, I have no idea whether this tastes like actual Mozzarella or not, and thus I don't even know whether I'd like cow-based Mozzarella. And L. isn't here tonight, so I couldn't pop a slice in his mouth to see how it compares to the real thing. I can say that it was a bit rubbery in texture (but I think that all cheeses in sliced form are rubbery looking anyway) and it was kind of bland in flavor. Definitely not an exciting specimen for my tastebuds. I'll have to get L. to try it out this weekend and see what his thoughts are.

Second, the Lisanatti Almond cheese in Jalapeno Jack flavor. I was pleasantly surprised by this one. It had a nice kick to it, and the texture was close to the hard goat cheeses that I've been eating. I doled out an ounce of it onto my plate with my chicken and munched it right down. Next time I hit Whole Foods, I'll have to pick up another flavor and see what it's like.

Now for the goat cheeses. Whole Foods really opened up a new world for me as far as goat cheese goes. They carry far more than the regular goat cheese that bears a resemblance to cream cheese or the crumbles (both of which I also love, and stocked up on). I picked up a block of hard goat cheese in Monterray Jack flavor, and one with various herbs. The Monterray Jack one is made by Greenbank Farms in nearby Preston, Washington. Again, I have no clue whether this is close to cow-based Monterray Jack cheese, but I couldn't care less. It's got such an amazing flavor and it's such a treat. They have a goat cheddar, so I plan on getting that next time and giving it a try. The other cheese is called Purple Haze, and it is made by Cypress Grove Chevre in California. Purple Haze has lavender and fennel added to it, and it's delicious. It's a little slice of heaven in the evenings.