Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Homemade Pizza with Daiya Vegan Cheese


I'm usually slow to jump on the "new product" bandwagon, but I chanced upon some of the new Daiya vegan cheese that everyone's talking about, and decided it was worth satisfying my skepticism. I'm all for having vegan/vegetarian versions of foods, if that's your preference, but I have yet to find a vegan cheese I felt was worth eating, let alone recommending.


I have to say I'm fairly impressed with this new Daiya stuff. Impressed enough to tell you to try it anyway.

Different tastes and textures appeal to different people. I liked it. It was melty and stretchy and gooey and cheesey-tasting enough for me to justify hunting it down again some day.

Since going vegan, I usually just avoid recipes that depend heavily on cheese or poor vegan substitutes. And I really don't feel like I'm deprived of a major food group. But I just might drag out the enchilada recipes or the pizza pans a little more frequently now! (Yes, I'm quick to point out, I can make perfectly delicious enchiladas and pizza without cheese, but even after being vegan for years, I still prefer them cheesy!)

No real "recipe" here, just crust-sauce-veggies-cheese.

Several years ago, I was sent a sourdough starter and it's still providing me with plenty of opportunities for breads, biscuits and, my favorite, pizza dough. I blogged about it way back here... Don't laugh at my misshapen crust, we were feeling rather "free-form" tonight...

Here then, is my mostly-mushroom pizza with cherry tomatoes, red bell peppers and onions from the garden - the sauce too, is some of my famous Crockpot Tomato sauce that I posted just a few weeks ago. Topped off with the new "cheese" and baked at 475° for about 10 min. Pretty awesome and cheesy!! It's definitely worth trying, if you get a chance!

4 comments:

Debra said...

This looks so good. Where did you find your daiya cheese? I would have to order mine online to get it.

Courtney said...

I just tried Daiya about 2 weeks ago while my mom, who isn't vegan or even vegetarian, was in town. It was a big hit with both of us. It's not something I'd eat on a daily basis, but every once in awhile I could see myself making pizza with it. Have you found the cheese in a local store or did you have to order it?

A said...

Hey there!! Thanks for commenting on my blog! I too am a "tofu Mommy!" So about the cheese.... I've had bad luck with vegan cheese and can't find any I like. Maybe I should seek out Daiya..... Anyway, great looking blog! I'm going to search a little more now.... those roasted chickpeas look fab in the next post down!
-A

k's mumbo jumbo said...

I do believe that Matt has found some of the Daiya in Hood River! I can't believe that so few places have it in Oregon.