Bite of the Best

What it is: A reduced fat, full-flavor Monterey Jack cheese with both jalapeño and habañero peppers How it comes: A 6.67-ounce package containing 10 slices Where it is: In the supermarket dairy case Who it's for: Anyone looked for a lower fat peppery kick for their sandwiches Suggested retail price: $3.39 Nutrition notes: One slice (19 grams) contains 50 calories, 4 grams total fat (2.5 saturated), 125 milligrams sodium and a good source of calcium Category: Fabulous Food: A healthy twist

Bonnie: I’m a spicy kind of gal. I love that extra kick that comes from hot peppers — jalapeño, chipotle (smoked jalapeño), habañero…. And, I love to save fat and calories when the taste isn’t affected.

This new Sargento Reduced Fat Pepper Jack sliced cheese is just that.

It is lower in fat than regular Monterey Jack (as it’s made with 2% instead of whole milk), and high in flavor (as it contains both jalapeño and habañero peppers). A double pepper whammy! A slice adds that extra zing to any sandwich without adding many calories. One slice contains 50 calories and 4 grams fat.

Bryan: Cheese is just one of those foods that many of us have a real love affair with! A friend of mine even commented recently that she believed she could more easily give up smoking for Lent than give up cheese. The addiction and love for this dietary dairy staple is that strong!

My own love affair with cheese has been long and passionate, though I do occasionally find myself a little upset with my lover. Cheese is so flavorful, so rich and creamy, so incredibly different and amazing from one variety to the next, enhancing almost any dish. But she has a dark side, too, a side we don’t like to think about whilst enjoying such foodie bliss. Yes, cheese has lots of fat and lots of calories. There. We’ve all just acknowledged the elephant in the room. But what can you do? We must love the bad with the good, right?

Many food companies have tried to give the food-buying public the perfect “girl”: products that would allow cheese lovers to have a relationship with cheese, but without all the proverbial “baggage.” As a cheese lover and professional food taster, I’ve sampled and considered most of the offerings to date. (Hey, who needs that much fat if you can cut it out, right?) Sadly, like almost all attempts at cutting fat/calories from a rich, creamy product, most “lo-cal” or “lo-fat” cheeses end up tasting like bland cheese substitutes, or just straight up processed blech! No, thank you. I’ll take the baggage and possible love handles any day, rather than giving up on flavor completely.

And then again, people just keep on trying to reinvent the wheel. It’s our nature — and sometimes we get it right! Sargento has been in the cheese business since 1949, and is one of the most recognized cheese brands in the US. Though they’ve put out reduced-fat cheeses before, their newest Deli Style Sliced Reduced Fat Pepper Jack Cheese (with jalapeño and habañero peppers) is a real winner. What I’m always looking for in any “reduced” food product is not to know it’s “reduced.” Though this newest Sargento Pepper Jack Cheese has 33% less fat and 25% fewer calories than a normal slice of cheese, I didn’t even know it was “reduced” until I took a second look at the package and saw the label. I actually want to point out that my second glance was not because I suspected a reduced-fat impostor, but only because this cheese was particularly hot! Though not overwhelming, the added habañero pepper is an extra kick over a cheese that usually only uses jalapeño. Reduced fat and increased flavor. It’s like finding a four-leaf clover!

Also, any food product with a tuna melt recipe on the back of its packaging is just A-OK in my book. Check out the Mexicali light tuna melt, with whole green chilies and pickle relish, at Sargento.com. Normal cheese slice (80 cal, 7g fat (11%), 4g saturated fat (20%))…. Reduce cheese slice (50 cal, 4g fat (6%), 2.5g saturated (13%))… Why bother with normal when they’re starting to taste the same?