The Everything Non-Dairy Thread

[KLS52]

I have mentioned something elsewhere, hoping nonvegan people who would consider giving up animal products will give up dairy for this, but do not remember if I mentioned this to vegans here in this forum, who if they really miss dairy cheese might benefit knowing this. The best sauce I ever taste within my living memory, which does count for something, is what I have using hummus and medium salsa in most of my cooked meals, pasta or else potato with other vegetables cut up in them generally, along with seasonings I like. I really do not think of dairy cheese anymore and this is so good, it makes that difference. The dairy cheese I thought would be hard to give up, and that I would really miss, unless I found plant-based cheese that tasted as good as it, was only an addiction. Nothing tastes that good for substituting dairy cheese, that I know of. Nutritional yeast didn't do much for flavoring, to me. But I was already using what I have for this sauce in my cooked meals and knew I was preferring it. As I recently find out other vegans don't have this approach, which doesn't matter to me much if their ways to be vegan work, I only think of saying it now for vegans who may really still miss dairy cheese and think about it still. This worked for me to think of it only as a former addiction I am glad to be over with.

I make a really good "cheese" sauce for pasta...I melt vegan butter, raw cashew butter (I'm too lazy to soak cashews and blend them ) nutritional yeast and non dairy milk. Add seasonings to taste. The butter and nutritional yeast add a really nice rich flavor.

My sadness and craving for dairy cheese is more for things like pizza. My husband and eat a lot of pizza so it's hard having it in my face on a regular basis. But I deal with it.

 

[Lou]

I make a really good "cheese" sauce for pasta...I melt vegan butter, raw cashew butter (I'm too lazy to soak cashews and blend them ) nutritional yeast and non dairy milk.

that's a good idea.

My sadness and craving for dairy cheese is more for things like pizza. My husband and eat a lot of pizza so it's hard having it in my face on a regular basis. But I deal with it.

if you can make your own. try Miyokis liquid mozzarella. its hard to find around her buy you can order it and have it delivered. It is so good.

I don't make my own crust, it doesn't always come out well. but I buy the small crusts, put some mozz, sauce, Italian sausage, mushroom and olives. for some reason they recommend that the liquid mozzarella goes on below the toppings.

 

[KLS52]

that's a good idea.

if you can make your own. try Miyokis liquid mozzarella. its hard to find around her buy you can order it and have it delivered. It is so good.

I don't make my own crust, it doesn't always come out well. but I buy the small crusts, put some mozz, sauce, Italian sausage, mushroom and olives. for some reason they recommend that the liquid mozzarella goes on below the toppings.

No disrespect, but there is no duplicating dairy mozzarella, especially the fresh mozzarella. I didn't like Miyoko's liquid mozz at all...it tasted like melted plastic. I still prefer Daiya shreds with a sprinkle of vegan parmesan for vegan cheese pizza.

 

[silva]

I have mentioned something elsewhere, hoping nonvegan people who would consider giving up animal products will give up dairy for this, but do not remember if I mentioned this to vegans here in this forum, who if they really miss dairy cheese might benefit knowing this. The best sauce I ever taste within my living memory, which does count for something, is what I have using hummus and medium salsa in most of my cooked meals, pasta or else potato with other vegetables cut up in them generally, along with seasonings I like. I really do not think of dairy cheese anymore and this is so good, it makes that difference. The dairy cheese I thought would be hard to give up, and that I would really miss, unless I found plant-based cheese that tasted as good as it, was only an addiction. Nothing tastes that good for substituting dairy cheese, that I know of. Nutritional yeast didn't do much for flavoring, to me. But I was already using what I have for this sauce in my cooked meals and knew I was preferring it. As I recently find out other vegans don't have this approach, which doesn't matter to me much if their ways to be vegan work, I only think of saying it now for vegans who may really still miss dairy cheese and think about it still. This worked for me to think of it only as a former addiction I am glad to be over with.

Please remember everyone has different tastes, so while it may be helpful to talk about what YOU like, it's never helpful to suggest others may feel the same.
One of my biggest peeves are people insisting on their likes being liked by others, whether it's ingredients they swear you won't taste, methods of preparation, or vegan substitutes.
We definitely have different taste!

Having said that, my favorite subs for cheese in salads is olives
For sauces it's vegan mayo, nooch, lemon garlic and salt
For homemade soft cheese cashews and soy yogurt fermented
Store bought either Daiya block cheddar, Violife mozz or co jack, and FYH smoked gouda

 

[silva]

No disrespect, but there is no duplicating dairy mozzarella, especially the fresh mozzarella. I didn't like Miyoko's liquid mozz at all...it tasted like melted plastic. I still prefer Daiya shreds with a sprinkle of vegan parmesan for vegan cheese pizza.

I haven't tried Miyokos, but it made me think of this recipe with it's 'mozz' like pour over topping. I thought it was very very good! I do always add some of my vegan mayo to sauces like this instead of just oil

Baked Rigatoni with Vegan Meat Sauce - Vegan Richa

Vegan Baked Rigatoni is an easy weeknight meal for the whole family! This comforting one-dish pasta is made with lentil bolognese & tofu mozzarella topping.

www.veganricha.com

 

[KLS52]

I haven't tried Miyokos, but it made me think of this recipe with it's 'mozz' like pour over topping. I thought it was very very good! I do always add some of my vegan mayo to sauces like this instead of just oil

Baked Rigatoni with Vegan Meat Sauce - Vegan Richa

Vegan Baked Rigatoni is an easy weeknight meal for the whole family! This comforting one-dish pasta is made with lentil bolognese & tofu mozzarella topping.

www.veganricha.com

That sounds interesting. I would try it especially since I like tofu ricotta.

 

[Lou]

A non-dairy cheese story.

This may become an envolving story that will last a while. So I was tempted to make a new thread for it. but it may be a story that is over right now - so for now I'm putting it here.

So the story so far...

There is a foodie awards contest called the Good Foods Awards. I'm not sure how prestigious an award this is but what sets it apart is that it considers good taste with "responsible practices".

The story starts in January when Good Foods announces the finalists. Among the finalists is a nondairy cheese, a bleu cheese. Climax Blue made by Climax Foods.

Traditional cheese makers were shocked. Good Foods announced that IF Climax Blue did win, then a co-winner would be announced and they would create different rules for next year.

Then last week (April 2024), Climax Blue was quietly removed from the finalists list. No reason was given.

However, Climax Foods revealed that before Climax Blue was removed from the running - they had been notified that they were the winner.

So. Let's see where this story goes.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/food/2024/04/27/vegan-cheese-good-food-awards-climax/?pwapi_token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJyZWFzb24iOiJnaWZ0IiwibmJmIjoxNzE0MTkwNDAwLCJpc3MiOiJzdWJzY3JpcHRpb25zIiwiZXhwIjoxNzE1NTcyNzk5LCJpYXQiOjE3MTQxOTA0MDAsImp0aSI6IjM3ZGUzZDUyLTAyZTItNDA4Mi04ZWVlLTI1YzZkODYxMWMxNyIsInVybCI6Imh0dHBzOi8vd3d3Lndhc2hpbmd0b25wb3N0LmNvbS9mb29kLzIwMjQvMDQvMjcvdmVnYW4tY2hlZXNlLWdvb2QtZm9vZC1hd2FyZHMtY2xpbWF4LyJ9.YvBYZ9vCQC5lAxcJzkx3GvzIRDMZGyj5LUfBuli0pQc

Awards - Good Food Foundation

The Good Food Awards recognizes that truly good food – the kind that brings people together – builds strong, healthy communities.

goodfoodfdn.org

Planet Cheese — Is Cheese a Dairy Food? — Janet Fletcher

Is it time to redefine cheese to include plant-based foods?

www.janetfletcher.com

 

[shyvas]

I would like to taste this if every I go back to CA. However, there is very little choice of artisan style cheese in most of the supermarkets, including Sprouts, TJ`s and even WF`s.

 

[silva]

I had $1.50 off coupon for Good Planet cheese. The store only had one-Smoked Gouda wedges. I was actually happy with that, as gouda is one cheese I've liked by FYH, Daiya, as well as making my own. I felt it has a texture easily made vegan
I really disliked it. When I've made it, using the Gentle Chef recipe, I did use refined coconut oil and didn't notice any bad taste, but with store bought cheeses I usually do get a bad taste with it-like Chao. Chao tastes like vomit to me!
Good Planet had a texture like the Humble brand deodorant I tried, (and also disliked that for the texture )
The taste was mildly smoky, and just not good IMO.
I just looked up reviews and it gets good reviews

I even tried it melty and it was as bad

 

[PTree15]

I had $1.50 off coupon for Good Planet cheese. The store only had one-Smoked Gouda wedges. I was actually happy with that, as gouda is one cheese I've liked by FYH, Daiya, as well as making my own. I felt it has a texture easily made vegan
I really disliked it. When I've made it, using the Gentle Chef recipe, I did use refined coconut oil and didn't notice any bad taste, but with store bought cheeses I usually do get a bad taste with it-like Chao. Chao tastes like vomit to me!
Good Planet had a texture like the Humble brand deodorant I tried, (and also disliked that for the texture )
The taste was mildly smoky, and just not good IMO.
I just looked up reviews and it gets good reviews

I even tried it melty and it was as bad

I've had only Good Planet shreds, the mozzarella, I think, and it was pretty good. My sister actually told me about it because she liked it, so I thought if a non-veg*n likes it, maybe it's doable. I think it was olive oil-based, though.

 

[silva]

I've had only Good Planet shreds, the mozzarella, I think, and it was pretty good. My sister actually told me about it because she liked it, so I thought if a non-veg*n likes it, maybe it's doable. I think it was olive oil-based, though.

I've seen the olive oil ones adverised and wanted them, but the gouda was all the store carried-and it was a store coupon.
I'll try the olive oil ones if they're priced right


I also got Hellmans vegan mayo because it was on sale. It looks grey

 

[Chryssie]

I've seen the olive oil ones adverised and wanted them, but the gouda was all the store carried-and it was a store coupon.
I'll try the olive oil ones if they're priced right


I also got Hellmans vegan mayo because it was on sale. It looks grey

I have Hellman's and it is definitely not grey!

 

[FredVegrox]

Please remember everyone has different tastes, so while it may be helpful to talk about what YOU like, it's never helpful to suggest others may feel the same.
One of my biggest peeves are people insisting on their likes being liked by others, whether it's ingredients they swear you won't taste, methods of preparation, or vegan substitutes.
We definitely have different taste!

Having said that, my favorite subs for cheese in salads is olives
For sauces it's vegan mayo, nooch, lemon garlic and salt
For homemade soft cheese cashews and soy yogurt fermented
Store bought either Daiya block cheddar, Violife mozz or co jack, and FYH smoked gouda

Listen to my tone, and try to not misunderstand, I post to be helpful, and am never imposing what would be best for all others. I make a helpful suggestion, every time.

Saying how good hummus is with things, I do want to say there are things hummus would not work well with, in my opinion, actually I haven't tried it but don't want to. I would not have hummus with what I use beans in, like in my burritos. Using Daiya nondairy cheeze would be much more desirable though I generally don't add it.

 

[Lou]

Before there was non-dairy cream cheese in every supermarket, I used to buy humus for my bagel sandwiches.
nowadays I only use hummus on crackers as an appetizer or a snack between meals.

Do we have a hummus thread? might be a nice place to post hummus stuff.

 

[Emma JC]

I love hummus as a base for sauces as well as for veggies, bread sticks, sandwiches etc

Emma JC
Find your vegan soulmate or just a friend. www.spiritualmatchmaking.com

 

[silva]

I have Hellman's and it is definitely not grey!

Something about the bottle--the product is quite white! We like my homemade a lot better, but I wish it could last as long--it's still good! Hellmans is fine, don't see why they don't promote it, I don't even see it sold everywhere

 

[silva]

Listen to my tone, and try to not misunderstand, I post to be helpful, and am never imposing what would be best for all others. I make a helpful suggestion, every time.

Saying how good hummus is with things, I do want to say there are things hummus would not work well with, in my opinion, actually I haven't tried it but don't want to. I would not have hummus with what I use beans in, like in my burritos. Using Daiya nondairy cheeze would be much more desirable though I generally don't add it.

Yeah, don't know why I picked on your post!
I will say there are certain foods that are constantly brought out for vegans I just can't stand. Like humus, anything with chickpeas, cilantro, avocado.
Often it just makes it sound so limited, and in my case not good
I'd love to see a Family Feud question of 'foods vegans eat'. I'm betting tofu, hummus, and avocado are the top
(US tv game show what they come up with popular responses to question and the contestants guess)

 

[FredVegrox]

I don't like some things I see vegans always talk about. Avocado, which I still went to get, is one of those things I sometimes try to have with other food and enjoy it, when I was young I never did. Guacamole was enjoyable still and it should work. I have been getting guacamole with no animal products, but that item I was getting went off the market, and guacamole that was still there had dairy in it. So I was making my attempt to include avocado more after that. I don't want brussel sprouts since a traumatic incident when I was a young child, that won't change. I don't think I will try having okra work anymore. But any of those would be better and I would sooner give a chance for than I would have what is not even from plants even if every other vegan wants them, those things from fungi, mushrooms. I still make most vegetables, not the sweet fruits included, but all really vegetables, food from real plants, work in meals with that good sauce I really like using hummus and medium salsa from La Victoria, with seasonings.

 

[FredVegrox]

The term 'vegetables' has been used in really inconsistent ways. The term was originally broadly for any edible parts we would eat from plants. Then fruits and grains, and nuts and seeds, were recognized as separate categories, though not consistently still, corn, a grain, is still grouped with vegetables that is left a distinct category, though that is arbitrary, and fruits that are not sweet still get called vegetables instead of being grouped with the fruit category. See, vegetables are not a defined group. But they were still edible parts of plants, just not those parts that had one of the other categories they were recognized as being in. But mushrooms are not plants at all. If you group them as being among vegetables, you have to throw out the meaning of vegetables and not have it mean part of plants. That really wouldn't make sense, mushrooms are not that special and nothing else is being called one of the vegetables that isn't really some edible part of certain plants.

The debate over whether veggies actually exist

For centuries people have debated what a vegetable is. Even the Supreme Court has offered an official opinion.

www.ktnv.com

 

[Lou]

yeah. its mostly the fruit vs vegetable thing.
Which I think is mostly resolved by its context or who is saying it.
Botanists will tell you that the part of the carrot plant we eat is a root.
And botanists will tell you that the part of the tomato plant we eat is a fruit.
but grocers don't really care. they are vegetables unless they are seeds, nuts, grains, berries, or fruits that grow on trees (like apples and oranges).
It's an entertaining debate and probably of interest to 4th graders. But I'm not sure it has much use.