Redwood Foods very kindly sent me some more samples of their newish products. I love this company. All their products are totally vegan and are great meat and dairy alternatives. I do make my own versions of lot of their products but it’s still great to be able to buy vegan sausages, burgers and a range of cheeses. I know many people who live in the land of Daiya and Teese who’d give them up every time to be able to get Redwood Cheezly (Especially the bacon one. It’s not new but I tried it on a sandwich in a panini press with HP sauce a few weeks ago and it blew my mind).
The first thing I sampled was the meatballs. I’m not over keen on tomatoey pasta sauces so I used Joni’s recipe for Swedish meatballs (the sauce part) and threw in some spinach.
We both liked this dish a lot, both the actual balls and the sauce. The balls are chunky and meaty and I have the rest in the freezer for a late night meatball sub.
The next thing to try was the Pepperjack cheese. Now maybe my tastebuds are getting more vegan but I could actually eat this stuff on a cracker. I tried it in a few dishes – quesadillas, tacos, and the Food Network Friday from a few weeks ago. I don’t know that the spiciness shone through with some strongly flavoured dishes but it tasted good and melted well and I’d like to try it on nachos.
The soya free cheddar melted astonishingly well. I have no problems eating soya but if I did I’d be glad to know this existed.
The blue cheese was the last thing I tried. I just couldn’t decide how to use it so I used it 2 ways – one cooked and one raw. The cooked recipe was this one from Denis Cotter. I’ll be returning to Denis Cotter in a later post, but just know that this was a really tasty dish and the blue cheese flavour was prominent with a good texture.
Finally I made this dip as part of a cheese and wine evening (again, more on that later!). This was beautiful, rich and creamy and “blue” tasting and was wolfed down by my non vegan husband with gusto.
I’m more than happy to recommend Redwood as a company and am so glad that they don’t stand still. They’re constantly coming up with new ideas and products which will appeal to a range of consumers. I really wish they’d manage to break the Quorn monopoly that tends to exist in supermarkets and chain pubs and I want to encourage people to keep requesting that more shops stock their products.
Cooking the Vegan Books 
I got to try lots of their stuff at the Natural Products Show, and the duck is scarily realistic. I want to try giving it to someone and telling them that it is duck and seeing if they can tell the difference.
I have to admit, I don’t think I’ve tried many, if any of Redwoods products. Dot hey sell in the U.K? I need to check out the Vegetarian aisles at supermarkts and freezer section in health stores.
I wish they had stuff here in the states.
I remember being so excited when I first foudn Redwood products in Australia! Lately though the exports to us down here in Oz seem to be lagging behind all the exciting new products they are bringing out over there.
I must admit that my favourite cheeze to is straight is Sheese, but I still love some Cheezly for grating and using in cooking.
I’ve tried a few Redwood faux slices, which have been alright. I think I tried their turkey roast once though, and it was watery and sad. But it is good in the deli slice version for sandwiches. I like their pepperoni!