By CPS Events at The Plaza
No one can deny that the world’s appetite is shifting. 2019 was dubbed “The Year of the Vegan” by the Economist. Major surveys conclude that one out of every five Europeans is eating plant-based and one out of every three Americans under the age of 35 is eating mostly plant-based.
]
While some may fear such a sudden shift in consumer demands, here at The Plaza, we’re excited by such changes. This shift means innovation in the area we love the most: food. It’s an amazing opportunity to get creative and try new things. Recently, we’ve ventured into plant-based foods and are thrilled about all the options available on the market. Our most recent tasting had us drooling over raw, organic, gluten-and-dairy-free desserts from Nat’s Rawline. The desserts were incredible and we were quick to say “YES, we love it.”
We also ventured into trying some vegan wines complete with a vegan cheese plate (who knew wine wasn’t vegan?) and we’ve settled on one of the finest wines found in Italy called Querciabella. This wine is completely biodynamic (meaning, a step above organic, using herbs and plants to optimize the soil and grape growth). The most exciting parts about these new trends, is that it’s just starting to catch fire and the best is yet to come as ingredients and food-tech become more and more ingenious.
By Afiya Witter
Last month, as a team building experience, our staff members at CPS Events at The Plaza joined Volunteers of America at Operation Backpack. Operation Backpack is a back to school drive that services children living in New York City shelters. Volunteers sporting Operation Backpack t-shirts fill Brand new backpacks in a variety of styles with grade- appropriate supplies. A few groups of children visit the area to assist the volunteers with filling their newly handpicked backpacks with all the items from the supply list. Volunteering for a great cause while witnessing children beaming with pride, ready to start the new school year was an enriching experience for our team. We thoroughly enjoyed making sure each pack being filled was efficiently and with love!
By Kiki Adami
Fettucini Alfredo can still be rich, creamy and buttery without all of the dairy elements. Even better, you can prepare this delicious entree in under 30 minutes following the recipe below. Bon Appetit!
![](https://www.greatperformances.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/2-1.jpg)
Vegan Mushroom Fettuccini Alfredo
Cook Time: 25 Minutes
Serves 2
Ingredients
-
2 garlic cloves, chopped into small pieces
-
½ white onion, chopped into small pieces
-
½ tsp pink himalayan sea salt
-
2 portobello mushrooms tops, chopped into dices
-
10 asparagus stalks, chopped into small pieces
-
1 tsp black pepper
-
1 cup full fat coconut milk
-
1 tsp black truffle oil, divided
-
Fresh cilantro, chopped
-
1 tbsp nutritional yeast
-
½ cup pine nuts
-
Hand full chopped kale
-
½ tsp garlic powder
-
½ tsp onion powder
-
Virgin coconut oil
-
Fettuccini pasta
-
½ cup filtered water
Procedure
-
Begin boiling water for pasta – once at a boil, add pasta and stir occasionally.
-
Put fresh onion, garlic, salt, pepper and 2 tablespoons of coconut oil into a pan and let it cook on medium for 5 minutes.
-
In a blender place pine nuts, nutritional yeast, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, pepper and a ½ tsp of truffle oil. Blend until it resembles a parmesan cheese consistency. Place mix in a bowl on the side for later use.
-
Once garlic/onions have started to brown, add a handful of kale, mushrooms and asparagus. Let kale and mushrooms cook for another 5 minutes on medium. Add coconut oil accordingly. If you’re trying to keep your oil intake low, then you can add table spoons of filtered water in place of oil.
-
Let ingredients cook on medium for another five minutes and then add 1 cup of full fat coconut milk and the remaining truffle oil and let the coconut milk absorb all the flavors.
-
Add filtered water if it becomes too thick.
-
Once pasta is done, drain and rinse pasta.
-
To serve, place noodles on a plate and top to your liking with the creamy alfredo sauce, pine nut parmesan and fresh cilantro.