On a recent shopping trip this Examiner stumbled upon Heath is Wealth's gluten-free mozzarella sticks. This Examiner has longed for a gluten-free version of breaded strips of creamy mozzarella and now there is a retail version, which we believe is the first to market.
The sticks are breaded with a combination of corn flake crumbs, rice flour and corn starch. All of the products made by Health is Wealth are free of artificial colors and flavors and preservatives. They make clean products because they believe nothing is more important than your health, and Health is Wealth. This company also makes products that contain gluten, so the sticks are not produced in a dedicated environment, but precautions are taken to prevent cross contact.
Upon opening the sticks we took a deep breath and inhaled the lovely smell of breaded cheese. It smelled just like we remembered and we couldn't wait to dig in. There are around 13 sticks in a package and they can be prepared in the microwave oven or regular oven. We chose to prepare them in the toaster oven and after six minutes they were ready to go in my belly.
The breading is crispy, but not as crispy as a wheat-based stick. The breading holds the cheese without it oozing out, so we let them sit for a few minutes to see if the outside became firmer and it did. The cheese fills up the breading and it is stringy, gooey and oh so wonderful without a weird aftertaste. This Examiner had to restrain herself not to eat half of the box in one sitting. The sticks were great without any dipping sauce, but we have dipped them in eggplant tapenade and marinara sauce and they hold together wonderfully.
The sticks do not brown while cooking, so they do look a little pale and they are about half the size of a wheat-based mozzarella stick, but any gluten eaters would be hard pressed to tell the difference and my daughter gobbled them up and asked for more.
Health is Wealth also makes gluten-free breaded chicken nuggets and gluten-free breaded meatless nuggets. We found the mozzarella sticks locally at Natural Foods Warehouse and we will definitely be stocking them in our freezer because they make great snacks and they can easily be used as appetizers.
Comments