Skip to main content

The Best Snack on Earth!


WebMD Feature from "Men's Health"
By Denny Watkins


Full-fat cheese is not only loaded with protein, calcium, and flavor, but the fat it contains just might help you lose your gut for good.

It's unavoidable advice:


If you're going to eat cheese, it should be the fat-free or low-fat kind. Trouble is, that usually limits your choices to mass-produced, vacuum-sealed cheeses that have had much of their flavor sucked out along with the fat. So it's hardly an appetizing proposition. And for what real benefit? Fewer calories and a lower risk of heart disease? Not so fast.

"The combination of protein and fat in regular, full-fat cheese is very satiating," says Alan Aragon, a nutritionist in Westlake Village, California, and the Men's Health Weight-Loss Coach. "As a result, eating full-fat cheese holds your appetite at bay for hours, and I've found that it cuts down my clients' food intake at subsequent meals." Aragon's advice: Enjoy snacks of full-fat cheese especially if you're on a diet. "Just don't eat it mindlessly," he says.

And if you're worried about your cholesterol, chew on this: Danish scientists found that when men ate a whopping 10 daily 1-ounce servings of full-fat cheese for 3 weeks, their LDL (bad) cholesterol didn't budge. Which isn't to say you should live on the stuff--just that you don't need to fear it. Full-fat cheese can be a healthy snack and a great way to make a bland meal taste better. "Cheese is the new wine," says Terrance Brennan, chef and owner of Artisanal Fromagerie, Bistro & Wine Bar and Picholine restaurant, both in New York City. "There are thousands of different aromas, textures, and flavor profiles."

So look beyond the singles and strings and into the gourmet cheese section of your supermarket (or shop online at artisanalcheese.com), and use our guide to discover the best cheeses you aren't eating.

The superspread:


Robiola

Step away from the Cheez Whiz: Robiola is the best way to top a Triscuit. This Italian cheese is soft, like Brie, and it tastes as rich as butter. Spread it on a whole-grain cracker or baguette slice, and round out the snack with grapes or cantaloupe. For another great spread, try Brillat-Savarin, which is so creamy it's been called the cheese equivalent of ice cream.

The anytime snack:

Roncal

A firm sheep's-milk cheese, Roncal's nutty flavor and chewy texture make it a fine stand-alone snack. Or, to add a touch of sweetness, you can give it a light glaze of cherry or raspberry preserves. A delicious alternative is Comté, one of the most popular cheeses in France. Besides being a great snack, Comté can also be a tasty filling for a grilled-cheese sandwich.

The salad enhancer:

Sainte-Maure

This French goat cheese makes any salad taste better. But don't try to crumble Sainte-Maure like you would other kinds of goat cheese--it's too soft. Instead, serve it on the side of a mixed-green salad. For the dressing, combine 2 tablespoons sherry vinegar, 1/3 cup walnut oil, 1 tablespoon finely diced shallots, 1 teaspoon kosher salt, and some black pepper. Nab a bit of cheese with your fork, stab some lettuce, and bite down. The lemon and black-pepper flavors of the cheese blend perfectly with the earthy walnut oil.

The flavor king:


Aged Gouda

Most cheeses can be aged for weeks to months, but a well-produced Gouda has spent 3 to 5 years in a cave. "Cheese is aged to develop its flavors," says Scott A. Rankin, Ph.D., an associate professor of food science at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. The result is like a good Parmigiano Reggiano, but with rich caramel flavors. Eat thin slices with a green apple or pear.

The beer buddy:


Montgomery's Cheddar

When you chomp into this cheese, don't expect it to taste like the factory-formed orange bricks you find in your supermarket's dairy section. This is authentic cheddar, from Manor Farm in Somerset, the county in England where the cheese originated. Its lingering flavors of buttermilk and horseradish balance well with any kind of beer and make American cheddar seem bland. "English farmhouse cheddars from Somerset are the cheddars of choice," says Steven Jenkins, the author of Cheese Primer.

The wine companion:

Hoja Santa

This creamy goat cheese from Texas is wrapped in leaves of hoja santa, an herb that imparts licorice and mint flavors. Serve it with a glass of Riesling or sauvignon blanc. White wine is usually a better complement to a cheese plate than red is, because its acidity balances the fat in most cheeses, says Brennan. Another great cheese to eat with vino is Cypress Grove Chevre Purple Haze, a goat cheese from northern California.

The dessert cheese:


Bayley Hazen Blue

After biting into this Vermont-made blue cheese, many of our tasters exclaimed, "It tastes like chocolate." The fudgelike flavor even has a hint of apricot--quite a feat considering this is just moldy milk. Eat it alone, or drizzle a drop or two of honey on it for an even sweeter (but still healthy) treat.

Originally published on September 2008

Comments

Anonymous said…
Oh o ho! very nice site! Great creation.good, keep up it.

Popular posts from this blog

Why Disasters Are Getting Worse?

By: AMANDA RIPLEY Thu Sep 4, 12:40 PM ET In the space of two weeks, Hurricane Gustav has caused an estimated $3 billion in losses in the U.S. and killed about 110 people in the U.S. and the Caribbean, catastrophic floods in northern India have left a million people homeless, and a 6.2-magnitude earthquake has rocked China's southwest, smashing over 400,000 homes. If it seems like disasters are getting more common, it's because they are. But some disasters do seem to be affecting us worse - and not for the reasons you may think. Floods and storms have led to most of the excess damage. The number of flood and storm disasters has gone up by 7.4% every year in recent decades, according to the Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters. (Between 2000 and 2007, the growth was even faster - with an average annual rate of increase of 8.4%.) Of the total 197 million people affected by disasters in 2007, 164 million were affected by floods. It is tempting to look at the line-u...

How to boost your immune system

The old saying, “An apple a day can keep the doctor away,” may have truth behind it after all. Eating nourishing foods rich in certain vitamins can help your immune system fight off illness. We talked to registered dietitian Julia Zumpano, RD, LD for a closer look at these vitamins, what foods you can find them in and how they can help keep you healthy. Here’s what she had to say: Vitamin C is one of the biggest immune system boosters of all. In fact, a lack of vitamin C can even make you more prone to getting sick. Foods rich in vitamin C include oranges, grapefruits, tangerines, strawberries, bell peppers, spinach, kale and broccoli. Daily intake of vitamin C is essential for good health because your body doesn’t produce or store it. The good news is that vitamin C is in so many foods that most people don’t need to take a vitamin C supplement unless a doctor advises it. Vitamin B6 is vital to supporting biochemical reactions in the immune system. Vitamin B6-rich foods incl...