Pretty-Cheesy

It’s smelling a little funky around here… it must be the cheese!

Let’s face it; cheese is delicious.  No, not the titty-suckling kind of cheese, I’m talking about cheese made exclusively from soybeans, nuts, seeds, and more delicious options!  I can’t even begin to explain to you how many times I have heard people say; “I could never give up my cheese”.  As for us Veteran Vegans, well many of us have been there.  From ooey-gooey grilled sandwiches, to brie covered crackers and the pungent smell and flavour that bleu cheese lends, there’s no end to the diversity.  Thankfully none of us Vegan-folks have to choose between our morals, ethics and empathetic evolution in order to enjoy the taste, texture and overall use of any cheese-centered dishes.  So for this blog post I won't be sharing any of my own creations, but instead gleaning and showing-off the shiny and all-too-delicious sexiness of other's delectable delicacies.  Scroll along and find what you like, as I've detailed which Vegan "Cheeses" are most suitable for different uses.  There really are options for everyone, and every style of food and different "levels" of a Vegan diet.  Try them all or try a few, but you can't go away thinking you don't have tons of options.

Vegan "Cheese" and some other stuff! - the packaged variety

Chocola Tree - Chocola Tree's Website
Try their Vegan Cheese Crumbles which come in Cheddar or Parmesan.  Sprinkle them over popcorn, salads, pasta, tofu, veggies and whatever else you want!  You could eat them out of the jar if you wanted.

Daiya - Daiya's Website *Aubrie's favourite for using on pizzas!

Daiya is the perfect substitute for classics like pizza, lasagna and quesadillas because it melts, stretches
and tastes just like it should.  Whether you suffer from allergies or are committed to a vegan lifestyle, our products are the perfect addition to your favorite dishes.
*Aubrie's Tip: when making pizza, nachos, or almost anything with Daiya, I add a bit of extra oil.  Just a drizzle of your favourite oil over the top of a pizza or nacho's makes it melt and stretch more, and also gives you that full-on fat flavour that you tasted when eating cheese from mammals.

Dr. Cow - Dr. Cow's Website *Aubrie's favourite for "just eating".

They have a variety of different Raw Cheeses.  Here's what they have to say about their "Cashew Nut Cream Cheese": Very fresh, very simple with a creamy texture. Traditional cheese maker style . Serve like cream cheese or sour cream. Try spooning it over freshly cut celery or cucumber. Smeared on sprouted bread or over crackers.

Food for Lovers Vegan Queso - Food for Lovers Website

Choose from their Mild or Original flavours. Our main ingredient is nutritional yeast. It looks a bit like flour but smells like cheese (in a good way). It's completely vegan and packed with Vitamin B. It's been a vegan go-to ingredient probably since the start of vegan cooking. We use this in addition to spices, tomatoes and green chiles to create an incredibly creamy, delightfully spicy dip. You'll understand everything you need to know about TexMex food after your first bite.

Go Veggie! - Go Veggie's! website *Aubrie's favourite for "Parmesan"

They carry Slices, Blocks, Shreds, Cream Cheese Alternative's and Grated Topping's.  Grab one of each to use on different things!  Try the slices in a sandwich, the cream cheese alternative in brownies, and sprinkle the grated topping over salad, popcorn or pasta.
*Aubrie's Tip: to maintain "fully vegan" status, please only buy their "Dairy-Free" products, which do not contain Casein, a milk protein with addictive qualities (and not because it tastes good).

Nacheez - Nacheez's Website *Aubrie's favourite Nacho cheese/dip for chips

Try their Mild, Medium or Spicy flavours.  A delicious dip or sauce to pour over just about anything you want to add a cheesy flavour to.  I love it over nacho's, or I could really just drink it.  Yes, it's that delicious!

Nacho Mom's Ultimate Vegan Queso - Nacho Mom's Website
A delicious soy-free Queso's for dipping or dripping over nachos!  They have three varieties: Ultimate Vegan Queso, Fire Roasted Queso, and VooDoo Queso.  Grab one of these jars of goodness for the next time you need a little comfort food.

Parma! - Parama's! Website

Sprinkle Parma! (or pour) on popcorn, pizza, pasta, ​soup, and salad.​​ It is also great on sandwiches, ​tortillas, beans, avocado, lightly steamed ​veggies, grains, ​and most savory food.

Parmela - Parmela's Website

Delicious Parmela Parmesan style cheese cups add a rich authentic flavor to your meals.  Using entirely dairy-free ingredients, the nut based cheese undergoes a fermentation and aging process unlocking that rich savory flavor.  Parmela is perfect for a finishing touch sprinkled over your favorite dishes: pastas, stir-fries, salads, and sandwiches.

Road's End Organics Chreese Sauce Mixes - Road's End's Website
Comes in little packes that you mix with water or your preferred non-dairy milks to make sauces.  They offer Alfredo Sauce or Cheddar Sauce.  You can stir these into pasta dishes easily!  Try their Mac 'n Chreese, as well as their gravy.

Ste Martean Vegan Cheese Alternative - Ste Martean's Website 
Makers of Colby, Muenster, Pepper Jack, Olive and Smoked Gouda!  Grate these into a layer dip, slice and spread them into enchilada's, or chow-down on them with crackers and a sip of wine or your favourite spritzer.

And in keeping with a new tradition, I give you a cheesy-unicorn.  I'm not sure I'd want to eat this one, as it looks pretty sharp.  Get it? SHARP! Har-har-har!

Teese - Teese's Website

Teese Vegan Cheese, a 100% dairy-free, gluten-free, soy-free alternative to dairy cheese, first launched in 2008. We created a product that tastes, melts, and stretches better than any other dairy-free cheese alternative on the market. Teese can be used just like regular dairy cheese in all of your favorite meals. Perfect for pizzas, mac 'n' cheese, grilled cheese, and nachos.

Toffuti - Toffuti's Website

One of the most popular, old Vegan brands!  They make Better Than Cream Cheese, dairy-free Slices, Sour Supreme, and Ricotta Cheese for your dining pleasures.  They also make Blintzes, icecream sandwiches, icecream cones, fudgecicles and pints of icecream.

Vegan Gourmet - Vegan Gourmet's Website

The makers of the amazingly popular "Vegenaise: better than mayo spread".  For their Cheeses, they make Fiesta, Cheddar and Mozzarella shreds.  Use them like you would any shredded cheese.  They also offer Salad Dressings!

Vegcuisine  - unfortunately they don't have their website up and running, but click HERE for a link to their outrageously tasty-looking Bleu Cheese

Vegcuisine (formerly Sunergia) strives to create innovative, delicious, and nutritious soy foods, and their Organic Soy Bleu 'Cheese' is no exception! Use any way you would use dairy bleu cheese - paired with bread, crackers, or fruit for an appetizer, crumbled into salads, or melted on pasta or other entrees. 

"We can't say it's cheese" spreads from Wayfare - Wayfare's Website *Aubrie's favourite cheesy-spread

There are many things in life that taste good; but few taste great…our cheeses are in the “great” category. It is not easy to recreate the flavor and rich taste of typical cheese, but our customers say we have done it. The good news is that we have done it without the casein, high fats and cholesterol. Ours even melts just like cheese. So next time you are wanting some nachos, mac ’n cheese or a quesadilla, look for WayFare!

They also make Ice Cream, Sour Cream, Pudding, and "Bacony Bits" -- all Vegan and all delicious!

Bon appetit!




Aubrie is an incredibly "Vegan- Cheesy" person. No seriously, it's everywhere I ever go.  It's like The Blob and wants to eat me.

Locavore Vegan Pizza + Homemade Omega-Rich Red Sauce

This pizza and it's unrelenting name, "Lovavore Vegan Pizza" are a mouthful x 1,000!  

It's delicious.  It's nutrient-dense.  It's sustainable.  It's VEGAN!  What more could a girl ask for on a super-warm summer afternoon?  Not a whole lot more.  WAIT.  Ponies!  Ponies would be nice.  Pizza eatin' ponies?  I hope it's got grass on it (not that kind, silly).  

This 'zah is dense enough to satisfy your biggest hunger pangs, but won't leave you with your head hanging like the Queen or King of lethargy. Indeed, it's delicious with it's perfect combination of the bittersweetness of the tomatoes and the creaminess of delicious Hemp Oil, combined with a perfectly browned crust.  Mmmm...  An added bonus is that this pizza is naturally and unwavering with nutrient density!  Packed full of omega's and fresh vegetables you'll find your skin glowing and your smile getting progressively more pretty and bright (not that you needed help, you beautiful person you!).  Basically this means that when you are ready to get movin' again it won't take long to get up to your favourite rate of speed -- which I imagine if you are reading my blog is fairly fast-paced, giggly and maybe a tad impish.  Teehee!

Where I live on little Whidbey Island in the Pacific Northwest, it is easy-peasy to find seasonal produce almost all year-round.  I often head North from my home-sweet-home to Coupeville where I can stop-by Mile Post 19 Farm and snag 3 pounds of delicious, farm fresh and chemical-free Raspberries for $12.  What a steal!  Even though I have my own small gardens, plus a large conglomeration of fruit trees, such as 4-5 different varieties of apples, pears, plums, peaches, kiwi's, and more; I still love to solicit other farms that grow things I haven't grown this year, or haven't got a clue how to grow in the first place!  My next door neighbours grow their own veggies on their gorgeous 20 acre farm called "SkyRoot Farm", part of which I am lucky enough to be able to let my horses graze on (bless your hearts, SkyRoot folks!).  A short walk and I can get to other farm stands filled with different seasonal produce or flowers.  My favourite stand for the past couple of years is Bur Oak Acres, who's delicious produce I used on the pizza that I'm sharing with you today.  Their farm stand is adorable and comfortable, and often bustling with other local fruit and vegetable lovers like myself.  I could probably survive on their mouthwatering melons alone, although the farmers at B.O.A are smart enough to know that a balanced diet should probably incorporate a few other things too (dang it...)

So without further adieu, I now give you the reason you visited my blog (it wasn't to read my ramblings and partake in my verbose enthusiasm?!); the 'ZAH, or more commonly known as... P-I-Z-Z-A! 

Note: I have broken this recipe up into three parts: the crust, the sauce, and the toppings/cooking.  I find it is easier to read recipes this way.  And if you don't like the recipe... well, have a Unicorn.


What I listened to while I wrote this blog:

Sherlock - SHINee
(click to listen/watch)

Locavore Super Hero Vegan Pizza

Ingredients

Pizza dough - You can make your own, or buy one from the grocery store that is already pre-made.  If you buy premade, I love Essential Baking Co.'s pizza dough, which as an added bonus is a locally made product from Seattle!

Directions
Pre-heat oven to 450 fahrenheit.

Oil a pizza pan or cookie sheet with Hemp or other omega-rich (Flax or Chia would work) oil of choice.  Roll pizza dough out to desired thickness and place on baking sheet.  Set aside.

For the Red Sauce:
4 large ripe Tomatoes
1 tablespoon Hemp Oil
1 tablespoon Braggs Amino's or Soy-Sauce (if you're allergic or sensitive to soy, opt for a soy-free sauce or just replace the sauce with a few pinches of salt)

2-3 tablespoons basil, rosemary, thyme, or a combination of the three
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
3/4 cup raw, whole chia seeds

           Directions:

Slice the tomato's into quarters and place in to a blender or food processor.  Add oil, Braggs/soy-sauce/salt, herbs and cayenne.  Blend until desired consistency (I love a few chunks).  Pour into bowl and stir in the chia seeds.  Allow to set until the sauce is a relatively thick, tapioca pudding like consistency (see photo). Now it is time to prepare your toppings.

For the toppings:

1 whole Bellpepper

1/2 large Yellow Onion

1/2 small Eggplant

1 bag of Daiya cheese, or other favourite dairy-free "cheese" (grated)

1 tablespoon Hemp Oil

Salt to taste

Directions: 

Chop all vegetables to desired size.  Set aside.  Once the tomato sauce has thickened; spoon it onto the dough and spread it evenly until it is about 1/2 inch from the edge.  Place veggies onto pizza as you like them, pressing down gently so they are "embedded" in the sauce a bit.  Cover with your dairy-free cheese.  Sprinkle with oil and salt.  Place in oven for about 20-25 minutes, or until the top of the pizza is a light golden brown.  

This pizza is a serious NOM-NOM-NOMBOMB, so I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

Namaste! xoxox

Aubrie is an avid food blogger chew-and-swallower.  She loves pizza's of all types, the red sauce being the best part in her opinion.