Gack Yack

If you cook with or eat veggie or vegan cheese on a regular basis, then you know it’s not easy to find a good one that melts the way regular cheese does. I’m always on the lookout for a healthy cheese option, and I found one a few days ago: Lisanatti’s RiceCheeze®.

To begin with, I didn’t know that rice could be used to even make cheese. I went to Newflower market on Manchaca in search of something that could breathe a little life into my toasted tofurkey sandwich. Part of me wanted to cheat and just get regular cheese, but then I saw the price for it: $6.49 for 10 slices of regular, bad-for-you cheese? No thanks. Resorting to my old stand-by, I wandered over to the Veggie Cheese section and noticed the RiceCheeze®. After reading the ingredients, I decided to give the Pepper Jack a shot. I figured it couldn’t be as bad as some of the other veggie cheeses I’ve tried.

It turned out to be awesome! It melted like actual cheese and had great flavor. And it was low in fat–3 grams for 1 oz, and 8 servings for the block. A block of regular cheese would be a lot higher and have saturated fat. I’ve only tried the Pepper Jack, but I highly recommend it. It’s gluten-free, cholesterol-free and soy-free. Below is the blurb from their website:

“Organic Basmati and brown rice are custom-blended for our RiceCheeze® chunks and MUNCHEEZE Snack Sticks™. When it’s cooked, our entire building fills with a wonderful aroma and popcorn becomes the snack of the day. This formulation has a light flavor and creamy texture that’s tasty cold or cooked. MUNCHEEZE are terrific for healthy, on-the-go snacks and lunches that the young, and the young at heart, enjoy. Try shredding the chunks in your favorite macaroni & ‘cheeze’ recipe for a deliciously healthy change!“