 PLANT POWER 101 & 102
The Dish on why Plant Based Eating is on the Rise Plant-based eating is sprouting up everywhere and has finally made its way to the UNLV William F. Harrah College of Hospitality. This April, some of Las Vegas’ plant-based leaders will combine their efforts to create a free two day, plant-based workshop. Presented by the UNLV Veg Club, UNLV Student Nutrition and Dietetic Association and Harrah’s Hospitality College, this class will be engaging and informational for all. The forward thinking, progressive leaders are Chef Mark Sandoval, an executive chef at Harrah Hospitality College, Jodi Paige of Virgin Cheese, Daryl Elliott, a progressive vegan activist, Nissa Tzun of Solidarite Kitchen, Heidi Roy of Alternative Junkie and Sari Dennis of My Wellness Counts. With their variety of knowledge and specialties, this class is ideal for people that already consume plant-based meals, are new to a plant-based diet or just want to expand their horizons. This course will highlight talks, demos, and tastes. It will feature the Ditching Dairy Demo from Jodi Paige of Virgin Cheese and Secret Sauces from Heidi Roy of Alternative Junkie. The goal of this class is to combine culinary skills and whole foods to show people how to remove the meat from great, nutritious meals. “As a society, people are looking more and more at what they are eating,” said Sandoval. “People are asking, “Was it sourced locally?” “Is it organic?” and “What are the ingredients?” As people do this, consciousness is spreading and has made its way into the college community.” Chef Sandoval has seen this change of plant-based interest growing for a while in his restaurants and is choosing to embrace it. He is teaching himself and the community how to create delicious plant-based foods. The diverse group of leaders and presenters are hosting this event to gage the interest of a plant-based class at UNLV in hopes to extend this two-part workshop into a longer course, and potentially write it into UNLV’s curriculum. UNLV previously added plant-based options to the Student Union, and Dining Commons. In addition, plant-based restaurants have been popping up everywhere around UNLV. This class is free and open to the public, students and faculty. Registration is available at PlantPower101.BrownPaperTickets.com. The workshop will be held April 15 and April 22 from 1-4 p.m. in the “Marriott Executive Kitchen” (Room 485) in the Harrah’s Hospitality Hall. For more information about the Plant Based 101 & 102 course, contact info@virgincheese.com.  Just Say Vegan Cheese, please. More people are ditching dairy, leaving it off their plate, out of their diet and adapting a greener and leaner lifestyle. Organic, artisanal cheese maker, Jodi Paige of Virgin Cheese, is at the helm of this movement locally in Las Vegas, producing traditionally cultured cashew-milk based cheeses that are worthy of fine dining. Virgin Cheese is being served up in local restaurants, shipped to both coasts and making their debut in Verde Valley winery tasting rooms in Sedona and Jerome, AZ.
Whether lactose intolerant, paleo or prefer the plant-based lifestyle, folks are finding out the truth about dairy. Research continues to show that 70-80% of the world population is lactose intolerant. We are just used to feeling bad! Now, unfortunately, we are also used to getting sick. The growing rates of childhood obesity, heart disease, high cholesterol and cancer have people taking more control of their eating habits and leaning towards organic fruits and vegetables. As the plant-based community grows world-wide, people now realize it is easier to give up meat, than cheese. Everyone says they are “addicted” to cheese – that they can’t give up their cheese – and there’s a reason for that. Dairy milk is now being linked to cancer due to the protein, casein. CASEIN contains CASOMORPHINES - that are designed to be ADDICTING – casomorphins help strengthen the bond between a mother cow and calf…and take that calf from being a newborn to 800 pounds in a year. In addition to being casein-free, plant based cheeses are also cholesterol and cruelty-free, promoting a healthier body and mind; knowing you’re not contributing to an industry where standard practices include separating newborn calves from their mother’s milk and shipping those calves off to veal crates, livestock auctions or death. Cheese Boards featuring decadent and delicious, organic, cashew milk-based Virgin Cheese are served at both Vegenation restaurant locations in downtown Las Vegas and Henderson and over at Eatt Gourmet Bistro on W. Sahara in Las Vegas, French chefs are utilizing fresh cashew milk mozzarella, goat cheese style Chevre and Parmesan from Virgin Cheese. Virgin Cheese prides itself on being a small batch cheese maker, where they can respond to chef innovations, seasonal influences and the changing marketplace. Current top sellers include Bleu, Brie, Feta, Lemon Dill, Pepper Jack, Shallot Truffle, Smoked Gouda and Sriracha Cheddar. Virgin Cheese also hosts Ditchin’ Dairy Demos, showing people how to blend thick cashew cream into coffee creamer, yogurt, cream cheese and sour cream. Check out their website at virgincheese.com or email info@virgincheese.com for upcoming demo dates. Jodi Paige is thrilled to bring decadent, traditionally cultured, organic, artisanal cashew-milk based Virgin Cheese to the marketplace; to the locals in Las Vegas and on to Sedona, Phoenix, Seattle, New York and Los Angeles. You can find Virgin Cheese sold daily at The Market urban grocery on Fremont & 7th, across from Container Park in Las Vegas, at Pure Health Food in Summerlin, at Go Vegan Cafe on S. Rainbow, at Blinders Burgers and Brunch in North Las Vegas, at ChocolaTree in Sedona, AZ, at Vegan Haven in Seattle, Orchard Grocer in NYC, at Riverdel Fine Foods in Brooklyn and world-wide shipping is available via Vegan Essentials, an online vegan grocer. Cellar 433 in Jerome, AZ and Winery 1912 offer Virgin Cheese, as well. Bon Appetit! Jodi Paige CCO Virgin Cheese The Humble Cashew -
Health Issues Cashews May Prevent
 © Susan Shek
By Alicia Kennedy Posted January 01, 2016 http://www.foodandwine.com/blogs/2016/01/01/surrender-to-vegan-cheese-in-2016 Get in on the ground floor of the nut cheese revolution. Once upon a time, the vegan section of the dairy aisle was more or less a joke, stocked with plastic packets of rubbery, oily, starch-filled "cheeze"—a dubious word that appropriately conveyed just how short it fell compared to its melty, gooey, dairy-born parent. But times have changed. Nut cheese has reached new heights, in part because the people making it are increasingly using the same processes as dairy farmers: taking nuts from almonds to cashews to macadamias, blending them with cultures, and aging them to make spreadable cream cheeses, aged hard cheeses and everything in between. “Until recently, only raw foodists made vegan cheeses—and they did it in very simple ways,” saysMiyoko Schinner, author of Artisan Vegan Cheeseand owner of the Miyoko’s Kitchen line. “But recently the amount of vegan cheese on the market has skyrocketed.” "In the next few years, vegan cheese is going to go mainstream,” says Jay Astafa, the chef at 3 Brothers Vegan Café in Long Island. He's banking on that possibility; soon, his cashew-based mozzarella, based on a recipe he started developing in 2011, will be available to buy retail. This is not your vegan sister-in-law's plasticky cheeze, Astafa promises. It melts, it browns and it bubbles up on the top of your pizza—just as a cow’s-milk cheese would. Not that the point of nut cheese is simply to mimic its dairy counterpart. According to Michael Schwarz, who owns the Hudson Valley-based company vegan cheese purveyor Treeline, the idea is to create a product that's delicious in its own right. “If I go to someone who’s not vegan and say, ‘This is brie,’ they’ll taste it and say, ‘It’s not,’" he says. "So I say, ‘This is our cracked pepper nut cheese.’” For the skeptical brie-lovers out there, rest assured: No one is asking you to give up dairy cheese altogther (not yet, anyway); accepting nut cheese into your life doesn’t have to be an all-or-nothing proposition. “There are so many kinds of cheeses in the dairy world," says Michaela Grob, owner of Riverdel, Brooklyn’s new nut cheese shop. "Nut cheese is just another variety." Make 2016 the year you give nut milk cheese a chance!
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