“For me as a chef, I don't really plan my meals because I'm very spontaneous,” says Angela Argentina, founder of Kindred Kitchens where she works as both a vegan chef and consultant, “for me, [Meal Garden] is a tool of inspiration. I look at the recipes, and I’m like ‘that’s a good idea’, and I totally make them my own.”

Angela needs this dose of inspiration for her business, Kindred Kitchens, where she works with local small- to medium-sized restaurants to optimize their menus with delicious, healthy, plant-based options.

The Plant-Based Awakening

“People are waking up,” Angela says, nodding to the fact that restaurant goers are starting to request more vegan, plant-based options.

This new awakening has changed the game for restaurants, who are trying to keep up with new, plant-based demands.

After talking to one restaurant owner about these changing tides, Angela says, “Half of [the restaurant’s] menu orders are now the vegan versions. So it just goes to show that people are shifting in this way.”

Angela helps these restaurants update their menus to reflect this change.

“We make a little menu. Just, healthier choices. Taking bestsellers and veganizing it but also optimizing it so it caters to diverse food populations.”

Breathing New Life Into Menus and Eating Patterns

Angela’s restaurant clients have specific needs for their menus, and Meal Garden makes it easy for Angela to quickly find recipes that fit the bill.

“You can get the profile for the nutrients and all that other stuff before you even make the recipe,” Angela says, “It's a time saving thing. It's an organizational thing. It's an inspiration thing, and a mechanical thing. Meal Garden allows you to find the macronutrients and micronutrients and makes recommendations, you can actually see if something's healthy.”

Meal Garden also helps her take the guess work out of healthy eating.

“Sometimes we think something might be healthy, because there's a lot of good ingredients. And then there's that one ingredient that's just blowing it out of that healthy region. So you can modify that.”

How Nutrition Professionals Can Inspire their Clients to Eat Healthier

Even though Angela works closely with restaurants, there’s one thing she wants people to know, who want to eat healthier.

“Learn to cook for yourself,” she says, “I want to see a high protein, low carb vegan meal for people because people just don't realize it's possible.”

But what if someone has never really cooked before and is starting from square one?

“Sometimes, the best thing is to not know what you’re doing,” Angela reassures, “I’m really trying to show people how fun it is to cook at home and… forgive themselves. Because a lot of people get intimidated.”

This can be a lesson for all nutrition professionals who are trying to inspire their clients to start cooking for themselves -- use Meal Garden as a tool for inspiration, and just experiment with food.

In the wise words of Angela, “Just get crazy.”

Follow Kindred Kitchens on Facebook, Instagram, and check out their website!

chef, consultant

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