namastefoods

Lactose intolerance gets my goat. In fact, it BITES.

It especially bites when I get a macaroni and cheese craving and have nowhere to turn. I’ve tried fake cheese brands that tasted like a lesser grade of particle board where even the “cheese” refuses to stick around. I’ve tried melting Vegan Rella “cheddar” on durum semolina noodles—once. I’ve succumbed to real, albeit organic, macaroni and cheese and regretted it.

The trouble is I really want the Kraft brand from the late 80s that was the color and taste of neon orange. I know, timewarp. It probably wasn’t good for me then, certainly isn’t now, but that’s what I think of when I get hit with the craving.

So what’s a macrobiotic jonesing for mac’n’cheese to do? Get past the “chreeze” brands and fall upon Namaste Foods like the savior it is. They don’t even call their take on it “macaroni and cheese,” being far too crafty (pun not intended); the bag states it is a “delicious non-dairy cheese pasta dish.”

namastefoods

“Say Cheez” is gluten free and made in a facility free of soy, corn, peanuts, tree nuts, dairy and casein. This leaves room for a whole lot of flavor from other sources. The pasta is brown rice and boils to the same tender consistency of its enriched cousins, and the non-dairy cheddar is enhanced by paprika, tumeric, garic and onion.

Now the surprising part to me is that I took to this like a duck on a bug, because it doesn’t actually taste anything like the neon Kraft mac’n’cheese. In fact it’s not “traditional” mac’n’cheese at all, and I warn you, if you don’t like your pasta speckled with bits of flavor as well as coated, you won’t appreciate this. I wasn’t sure about it until I tried it. I’m so glad I did. I can’t wait to see what else Namaste Foods has to offer.