30 Nov Inside the Fridge: Amanda Archibald

Inside the Fridge welcomes Amanda Archibald. Amanda’s contribution to food and nutrition is channeled through her nationally acclaimed company, Field to Plate® and its affiliate Food and Culinary Guidance.  She was educated in the UK and the U.S.A. She is a Registered Dietitian, a member of Les Dames d’Escoffier and sits on the National Advisory Board for Cooking Matters™. She believes that food and the soil it grows are the foundations for health. Amanda is an outspoken advocate for the food as medicine movement and a passionate voice for the hungry and disadvantaged whose seat is so often vacant at our nation’s table.

Below we ask her questions about her grocery shopping and food habits – with actual pictures from her fridge!

Inside the Fridge: Where do you shop for food?
Amanda Archibald: When I am at home, I shop at my local Coop – The Common Market.  I trust my buyers and therefore I trust the food

ITF: What is the single most important thing on your mind when you are shopping for food?
AA: The Season

ITF: How do you plan your weekly meals? Create a spreadsheet of fly by the seat of your pants? 
AA: My meal choices  is generated by the Season and the contents of my CSA box.  The season is the foundation for what goes on the plate and what is preserved. For holiday meals, we do plan ahead, but always start with sourcing local foods and then build from there. We also cook based on what our body tells us it needs. Sometimes we overlook what our body is telling us. When we ignore our innate needs, we waste time cooking and eating things we don’t need. That being the case, we do not have a rigorous plan other than reflecting the season and respecting our fundamental nourishment needs

ITF: Do you believe in leftovers?
AA: Absolutely. Leftovers become lunch or they become a foundation for another meal. Leftovers = sustainable eating

ITF: What cooking utensil/piece of equipment/appliance do you live for?
AA: A microplane:  it adds the essence of flavor and nourishment to a dish. It takes simple food from flabby to fantastic.

ITF: When you hear the word “homemade” what is the first thing that comes to mind?
AA: Commitment to the value of cooking

ITF: How have your cooking/shopping habits changed over the last 10 years?
AA: My values speak directly to what I buy. I walk the walk and talk the talk.

ITF: What are your go-to food/nutrition/culinary/cooking website/s, book or cookbook?
AA: Books: The Flavor Bible; Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone; Pressure Perfect; Anything by Cynthia Lair,  Devra Gartenstein, Mollie Katzen or Rebecca Katz; Cooks Illustrated

ITF: What was the last meal you cooked from scratch?
AA: Chai spiced oatmeal with home preserved berries. Rice noodles with curried coconut-lime sauce. I’m recipe testing…

ITF: If one person could cook for you tonight, who would it be?
AA: My dad. We’d just share the same silly stories and tell the same silly jokes. Laugh and cry all over again. He would just love to see how the seeds of gardening that he sowed so many years ago were not in vain. Those seeds become the fruits of my table!

ITF: What words of wisdom or advice do you have for other folks who are doing their best every day to fill the fridge?
AA: Try to think about what your grandparents had in their refrigerator and compare that to yours. If you still see whole foods and meals made from scratch, keep on keeping on. If you see a proliferation of boxes, cans and foods with labels, time to slowly rethink your food strategy. With great food comes great nutrition. With great nutrition comes great health

ITF: What are you working on these days that you’d like to tell us about?
AA: Working on launching a new company called Food & Culinary Guidance. We integrate the science of nutrition using the art of the kitchen to generate customized food and culinary solutions for individuals. It is a partnership concept uniting nutrition experts with culinary experts to create and teach health-supportive food solutions for the clients we serve. Uses in-person consultation as well as web-based media

ITF: Anything else?
AA: I’m working on a book concept – hea
lth-supportive culinary frameworks for practitioners & educators

Thank you Amanda!

If you would like to be featured on Inside the Fridge, please email RobinsBite Intern Laura Bartee – Laura *at* robinplotkin *dot* com