Low Sodium for Cheese Lovers

One food that I really love is cheese; in sandwiches, melted on corn chips, with crackers, etc...Unfortunately, cheese has quite a bit of sodium. The normal Cheddar or Jack typically has at least 150 mg of sodium per serving (which is 1 oz). If you only eat one serving, that's not bad, but how many of us really eat only 1 oz?

I recently found a company that sells low sodium Raw Milk Cheddar & Jack cheeses under the Landmark brand, called Rumiano Cheese, based in Willows, CA. You can order it from their website at http://rumiano-cheese.com for $3.85 per 8 oz block. The company says that there is no salt added during its production, and there's only 35 mg of sodium per 1 oz serving. The only brick & mortar store that I've seen it at is a local health food store, selling for $6.99 per lb (16 oz). Couldn't find it at any of the chains like Trader Joe's or Whole Foods though. I've bought the Jack cheese a couple of times and it's not bad. Of course there isn't as much flavor as regular Jack, but what do you expect when there's less than a third of the sodium!

One good way to give this cheese more flavor is to slice or shred it onto bread, chips or whatever you're gonna eat it with, then sprinkle some non-salt/zero sodium seasoning onto it (i.e. black pepper, cayenne pepper, dried basil or organo, etc.) and pop it in the microwave for about 45 seconds. The seasonings melt into the cheese and give it a nice flavor and aroma, without increasing the sodium level. Those seasoning that I listed above are my favorites to use.