Grilled Cheese for Grown Folks

A week or so ago, I received a package with two sample bags of Galaxy brand's new Vegan Shreds. I wasn't sure what to expect, as I've been unimpressed with some of Galaxy's earlier vegan cheese products. I remember when I first tried their block cheese (and this was way back in the day), thinking that Vegan Rella was the better choice. Vegan Rella! My, my. How far we have come!

Well, I tried the Mexican Style Shreds first. I tasted them cold, tried a little melted onto chili, and then I melted them onto this Grilled Cheese for Grown-Ups from Vegan Cooking for Carnivores:

I'm gonna put it to ya straight: This cheese is amazing! It's right up there with Daiya in terms of meltiness. And taste-wise, well, let's just say Galaxy has upped their game a hundred-fold since my first Galaxy experience. It actually tastes similar to Daiya, but the texture of the cold stuff is a tad drier. I recommend melting if you're a picky vegan cheese eater. I'm not.

Of course, I had a clue it would be better than the old cheese stuff. In recent months, I've discovered that Galaxy makes a better vegan cream cheese than Tofutti, and the Rice Vegan slices aren't half bad if melting isn't a priority. But these shreds are Melty McMelterson. For reals.

They also sent me a package of mozzarella shreds, but I'm going to save those for a pizza, which I'll blog about soon.

Now about that grilled cheese. This is by far the most sophisticated grilled cheese I've ever had. Two Earth Balanced slices of sprouted grain toast are spread with Dijon, a homemade rosemary red onion jam from Vegan Cooking for Carnivores, tomato, vegan cheese, and arugala. Absolutely delicious.

I really thought I hated arugala, and I almost left it off this sandwich. But the arugala man at the Memphis Farmers Market was just giving the stuff away last week because he felt like his crop wasn't very pretty. So I got some and gave it another try. I used to like the stuff until I had an arugala salad with tahini dressing. Don't ever try those two things together. Barf city. It ruined me on arugala for years.

But the wilted peppery greens really worked in this sandwich. They complemented the tangy Dijon and balsamic-laced onion jam. I may just like arugala again after all.