Probably 80% of the time when I tell someone that I’m vegan the first words out of that person’s mouth are, “I could not live without cheese!” The other 20% of reactions are usually about steak or bacon, sometimes in a mean-spirited way and sometimes not. Today, though, I wanted to talk a little about the cheese thing, since it seems to be what gets folks the most.
I will not lie to you: giving up cheese was probably the toughest part of going vegan for me. Cheese is delicious, and I had what you might call a “cheese problem.” I loved it, but it did not love me. Instead, it played heavily into my high cholesterol. At age 25, my cholesterol was over 250! This was a complete shock, since I was a normal weight and got plenty of exercise riding my bike to and from work every day.
When I cut dairy out of my diet, my cholesterol dropped from insanely high for my age and size to a normal level somewhere between 180 and 190.
All of that is fantastic, but it didn’t make giving up cheese much easier. In a lot of ways, it reminded me of quitting smoking. I craved it and was a little grumpy at first. Store-bought fake cheeses couldn’t hold a candle to the real thing. Times were tough until one day I discovered something that helped. There was one food that worked in the vast majority of dishes that were begging for cheese. It quelled my cravings and didn’t taste fake.
That food was avocado.
From sandwiches to salads to no queso quesadillas, avocados saved the day! In really desperate moments, I even diced some up and ate it plain with a fork. It got me through the tough cheese withdrawal stages.
The other vegan staple with a cheesy taste that doesn’t get enough cred is nutritional yeast. You can find nutritional yeast in the bulk bin at most health food stores. Try sprinkling it onto pasta or salads like Parmesan cheese or mixing it with other ingredients to make a faux cheese sauce. You can even substitute nutritional yeast one-to-one for the Parmesan cheese in any pesto recipe!
There are some excellent cheese substitutes out there for folks looking to give these a whirl. Follow Your Heart makes a few types of vegan cheese that melt. There is also a new brand, Daiya, that makes an insanely good faux cheese from tapioca of all things! Daiya cheese is even soy free, if that’s a concern for you.
Have any of you thought about going vegan but run into a stumbling block? I’d love to hear what issues have stood in your way.
Image Credits: Cheese. Creative Commons photo by ulterior epicure; Avocado. Creative Commons photo by seandreilinger
[...] I’ve mentioned before, giving up cheese was harder for me than giving up smoking. It was also one of the best things I [...]
Thanks for this thought-provoking post! Funny, I am a vegan who grew up disliking avocado, and only started liking it when I went raw. Now I LOVE a good, ripe avocado…I’m not satisfied w/it as a cheese substitute, but think it can really heighten a meal. (I do LOVE cashew cheese & daiya is at least DECENT tasting & GREAT in texture- I also LIKE the taste of FHY cheese, though the texture doesn’t well mimic authentic cheese well. These HAVE helped to lighten my pizza cravings though- as well as the spiritual & emotional rewards that being vegan brings.
Ha! I feel the same about FYH. I love it, but it doesn’t remind me of cheese at all.
Cashew cheeze is what I eat the most, since it’s so easy to make in the blender. Even my friends who do eat cheese devour that stuff.
I want to become a vegan but love eggs. I just gave up cheese and am only missing pizza. };)> Occassional meat and cheese replacements are sufficient for me and I love the taste of soy milk. However, nothing has been able to put a dent in my egg craving. Meat has never been big in my book and cheese makes me sick (not lactose intolerant, at least not diagnosed) and I’ve always hated milk, so those were pretty easy to scratch off. Alas, eggs remain the perfect food in my book. I try to tell myself how bad eggs are for my cholesterol and that chickens suffer greatly because of the demand of this animal by-product. In spite of this, I’m still an eggaholic. I also love honey, but have been able to stop that. I do think eggs are a gazillion times tastier than honey, though.
Have you tried Daiya cheese? Some Mellow Mushrooms carry it now, so you might be able to sate your pizza craving that way! Rachel also recently posted a roundup of vegan pizza options that sound so tasty, you’d never miss the cheese!
The egg thing is tricky. Have tofu scrambles just not hit the spot? I could see that, if you’re hard core into eggs. I’ve heard that a little black salt can give your tofu scramble an “eggy” taste, but black salt is hard to find. Maybe online somewhere? There are also some good vegan quiche recipes out there that use silken tofu in place of eggs.
I hope this is helpful! Isn’t it funny how we all have our sticking points when it comes to animal foods? Cheese was definitely hardest for me!