Bridgewater State Dining unveils plant-based catering menu

Bridgewater State University Dining by Sodexo is rolling out one of the company’s first entirely plant-based campus catering menus.

Created by Campus Executive Chef Joe Pina, Retail Operations Manager Christine Hubbard, and Catering Manager Christina Melancon, the completely plant-based catering menu was driven by client demand using recipes shared with Sodexo by the Humane Society.

Called Rustic Roots Catering, the extensive plant-based menu offers dairy- and meat-free breakfast, lunch, dinner, and desserts.

“Recently, we’ve been receiving more and more special requests for plant-based menu items from faculty, staff, and students in all facets of our operation,” said Hubbard. “We answered the initial call by introducing a plant-based station in one of our resident dining locations.”

Chef Pina found he was also creating custom plant-based menus for many catered events and decided to introduce these menu options into the campus’ Catertrax site.

“A lot of the dishes came from the Food Forward recipes provided to us by the Humane Society,” said Hubbard. “We had recently done a two-day on-site training with them, so it was fresh in our minds.”

Catering Manager Christina Melancon is also a registered dietitian and she was able to quickly research and identify nutritional information for all recipes created by Chef Pina.

The menu features innovative dishes like Southern Style Jackfruit Sandwiches, Spinach Tofu Scramble with Cavatappi, Buffalo Cauliflower Wings, and Vegan Chocolate Quinoa Cake.

“Bridgewater State University and the campus community are very 'wellness-focused' so introducing this menu lines right up,” said Hubbard. “We’re very excited to showcase this menu in the fall.”