Who doesn’t love cheese? From fresh cheeses, like cottage cheese, mozzarella and ricotta, to hard cheeses, like asiago, gruyere and Parmigiano-Reggiano, and semi-soft cheeses, like Brie and Camembert, the tastes and textures that cheeses offer truly do elevate a wide variety of meals. And while it’s well-known that cheese is a great source of calcium and protein, cheese can also be high in fat, depending on which cheese you choose. There are two ways that you can keep your calories low and yet still enjoy your favorite cheeses. One way is to choose low fat versions of cheeses. Another way is to monitor how much high fat cheese you consume. If you cannot part with your favorite high fat versions of cheese, you may want to consider new ways to enjoy them so that you’re eating less than more. Here are three ways for you to consider cheese:
- Instead of placing a full slice of your favorite high fat cheese onto food such as bruschetta, use a microplane cheese grater to sprinkle cheese atop the bruschetta.
- When using slices of cheese, slice them as thin as possible.
- Experiment with different cheeses, substituting healthier cheeses in place of high fat cheeses. Some healthy cheeses include: cottage cheese (low in fat and high in protein), Greek feta (perfect for a Greek salad), Parmigiano-Reggiano (low in calories but high in sodium—use in moderation), and Swiss Emmentaler.