Woohoo! I was at Whole Foods this morning and look what they had finally put out on their shelves:

Please pardon the crummy iPhone pic– it’s all I had handy at the time and I really wanted to capture the moment.  Daiya… at my local Whole Foods… FINALLY!!!  I’ve had the mozzarella at our local pizza place and, for vegan cheese, it’s pretty good.  I really, really like that it’s vegan and allergen-free (no nuts, soy, dairy of any kind, gluten, etc.).  What is in it, you’re asking yourself… well, some starches, oils, random stuff.

I bought a bag of each and could hardly wait to get home to try it.  Since I’ve had the mozzarella and know what that tastes like, I dove right into the cheddar.  I toasted an English muffin, topped it with an Yves brand sausage patty, then topped it with the cheese.  A quick pop under the broiler and my breakfast was done!

Close up of melti-ness

After tasting it, I have to say that the cheddar doesn’t taste much different from the mozzarella.  It was good and I would definitely buy and eat it again, but my favorite vegan cheese is still Cheezly.  I’m sad that I can’t buy Cheezly at any store around here and, until I can, I’ll be perfectly happy and fine with Daiya.  There is one thing that I don’t like about Daiya and it has to do with their packaging.  I don’t like that it doesn’t come in a resealable bag.  Once you cut it open, you have to put it in another bag that does close or some other container, which either creates more waste or more dishes for me.  It’s a minor complaint, but I do hope the company decides to integrate a zipper into the top of the pouch of cheese.

For dinner tonight, I made my Emma a quesadilla with the cheddar variety.  Her verdict:  “Mommy, the cheese doesn’t taste very good.”  Ah… you can’t please everyone, can you.  She is completely unaccustomed to vegan cheese and her reaction does not surprise me.  Vegan cheese is nothing like dairy cheese, which she does have on occasion.  Now that we have easy access to Daiya, I’m hoping to transition her to it instead of dairy cheese.  She sometimes gets an itchy rash on her arms and legs and I’m pretty sure it happens when she’s eaten too much dairy.  In our everyday life, she only has real dairy very seldom– usually when we eat out and there isn’t any other kid-friendly, vegetarian option on the menu.  Anyway, it does take some getting used to when you quit eating dairy cheese and transition to a vegan cheese, so I just have to give her some time.

If you happen to see some at your local grocery store, I do recommend picking some up and trying it in place of regular cheese.  You just might be surprised!

EDIT: Daiya even melts nicely in the microwave!