Sorry for the "cheesy" title but I am too excited about this new find. What rock have I been living under to not have seen this until now? A cheese that those of us living with serious food issues can eat!! The company that has invented this cheesy concoction of taste is Daiya. Even "Amy's", my favorite frozen food company, has joined forces with this new magic cheese to create a gluten free, casien free, soy free mac and "cheese". FUN!! I can't wait to try the cheese. I have heard good things so far. The best thing is that the company says that the cheese really does melt. Pizza anyone?
I will let you know what I think of the taste. If anyone out there has tasted it yet, let me know. I am so excited to know!!
What is Daiya?
Where can I buy Daiya?
What varieties are available?
What is Daiya made from?
Nutritional info
Cooking suggestions
What is Daiya?
Daiya is a revolutionary new dairy-free vegan cheese that tastes, shreds, melts and stretches like dairy based cheese. Daiya is not made with casein, the protein found in dairy products or soy, common to many other non-dairy cheese alternatives. In fact, Daiya does not contain any common allergens, animal products or cholesterol. Daiya is made with nutritious planted-based ingredients and is:
33% less fat than dairy-based cheese with equivalent attributes
Cholesterol free
Trans Fat free
Dairy free
Free of all animal products (Vegan)
Free of common allergens including:
Soy, Casein, Lactose, Gluten, Egg, Wheat, Barley, Corn, Whey, Rice, and Nuts
Free of Artificial Ingredients
Free of Preservatives
Free of Hormones & Antibiotics
An excellent source of a naturally occurring vegan vitamin B-12 as well as an excellent source of B vitamins in general
Where can I buy Daiya?
Daiya is currently available for foodservice purchases but we are working on a retail launch strategy. If you'd like to be informed when a retail product is available in your area, please fill out our contact form if you haven't already. Daiya is available at some restaurants, deli and prepared foods markets and online. For more information, please see our Where to Enjoy Daiya page.
What varieties of Daiya are available?
For foodservice, Daiya is currently available in Italian Blend, a cheese perfect for pizza, nachos, lasagna and the like, and Cheddar Style, a cheddar like cheese perfect for grilled cheese sandwiches, mexican food and the like. We sometimes like to blend the two and for any of you that had a chance to sample the pizzas we made at the Natural Products Expo West show in March of 2009, we used 75% Italian Blend and 25% Cheddar style which was a huge hit. Our products are available in shred and block formats.
What is Daiya made from?
Daiya is made entirely from plant-based ingredients. The full list of ingredients are as follows:
Purified water, tapioca and/or arrowroot flours, non-GMO expeller pressed canola and/or non-GMO expeller pressed safflower oil, coconut oil, pea protein, salt, inactive yeast, vegetable glycerin, natural flavors (derived from plants), xanthan gum, sunflower lecithin, vegan enzymes (no animal rennet or animal enzymes), vegan bacterial cultures, citric acid (for flavor), annatto.
Nutritional Facts, Daiya Italian Blend
Vegan Cheese Alternative
Nutritional Facts, Daiya Cheddar Style
Vegan Cheese Alternative
Cooking with Daiya
You can use Daiya in the same way you would use regular cheese.
Pizza Volumes:
It is important to use the optimum amounts of Daiya on pizza for best performance. Below are optimum recommendations resulting from performance tests in mass market pizza franchises throughout North America.
10 inch=110 grams (4oz); 12 inch=160 grams (5.5 oz); 14 inch=220 grams (8 oz); 16 inch=280 grams (10 oz); 18 inch=358 grams (12.5 oz)
Baking with Daiya:
Use Daiya as you would regular cheese. For best results (as a topping such as the top layer of a lasagna) add Daiya in the last 5 - 10 minutes (depending on temperature) when baking. This will yield smooth melting properties without excessive browning.
Tip: Try adding Daiya at the very end after baking is finished, by sprinkling a shredded layer on top of oven-hot food and covering for a few minutes. This preserves the most nutrients and maintains optimum resilience.
Microwave:
Daiya works great in the microwave in tortillas, burritos and whatever you normally would cook with cheese in the microwave. Be careful not to overcook Daiya as like dairy based cheese, it will become tough.
Storage:
Always keep refrigerated.
Freezing Daiya:
You can freeze Daiya and use it as you normally would after thawing. Like most food products, do not freeze, thaw and re-freeze.
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Copyright © 2010 Daiya Foods Inc. All rights reserved.
4 comments:
I had Amy's gluten free Daiya mac n cheese last night for dinner. Unless I cheat on my diet, I haven't had good mac n cheese in years, no, decades. It was good! Good flavor, nice mouth feel, a real winner. It's the first time I've had Daiya cheese, although I've known about it for months . . . I just hadn't found any products using it. I can't wait to get a hold of some cheese so I can top a cheeseless pizza with it. But I'll keep buying Amy's mac n cheese. (A bonus: at my health food store, it's on special this month, so it's $2.99 instead of 4.49. Time to stock up!
Anonymous,
I am so excited to hear that you thought the mac and cheese was good. I didn't have high hopes for the taste of this new Daiya cheese, but I actually really liked it. I put it on the top of some chili and the whole family thought it tasted great. Pizza soon...
Nice blog. I was curious about your experiences with HBOT and what you think about it now that you've done it and it's been a while. We have started it with my two boys this past week.
Gemmanerys,
I love the concept of HBOT and for so many it is a great therapy. Connor has OCD, obsessive compulsive disorder. We believe his OCD stems from a Strep issue in the gut. Dr. Amy Yasko advises to get Strep in check before doing HBOT and she is, as usual, right. Connor's Strep LOVED the oxygen. His obsessions grew and grew and his irrational fears grew and grew as well. I am not giving up on the therapy for ever, but until other systems are in check, it is not the right time for us right now. Good luck with you and your two boys. I really hope it works well for you. Let me know if you have time how it goes.
Jill
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