So what’s a cheese lover to do? Compromise most of the time and treat yourself some of the time. This means changing your relationship with cheese. Instead of using cheese as a central ingredient, use it to accent dishes. Aged cheese is a good for this. It tends to be more flavorful so you actually don't need to use very much of it. Such cheeses include extra-sharp or sharp cheddar, Gorgonzola, Parmesan, and Asiago.
Many cheeses are naturally lower in fat than others. These include part-skim mozzarella, string cheeses, farmers cheese, and Neufchâtel. Goat cheese is lower in fat and has fewer calories than cow's milk cheese.
A number of common cheeses are widely available in reduced-fat form, including Cheddar, Monterey Jack, mozzarella, Brie, Swiss, Colby, Muenster and American. Lower-fat cheeses tend to be milder in flavor, have a more rubbery texture, and have different cooking characteristics. But don’t write them off completely. Some brands of reduced-fat cheese are actually very good—Cabot cheese comes to mind.
Reduced-fat cheeses have about 6 grams of fat, with 4 grams of saturated fat. These cheeses work well in sandwiches and salads. Bags of shredded 2 percent cheese are useful substitutes for pizza toppings or for use in your favorite comfort-food dishes. They don’t melt well under direct heat, however, so avoid using them under the broiler.
As for fat-free cheeses, well, I’m the first to admit that fat-free cheese really isn’t worth eating—except, possibly, the shredded variety as a salad garnish. Fat-free cream cheese is fine blended in with other ingredients, or with herbs added.
So go ahead and eat some cheese, but use it less often and more sparingly.
