Get creative with leafy greens

l Food art

To encourage family-friendly ‘fun dining’, Samantha Lee transforms a dish’s look to garner attention of those children who do not find green vegetables and healthy food appetising.

She is a food artiste who designs all kinds of dishes, but creating a nutritionally balanced dish for children is her primary concern.

“I started off creating food art for my daughter to encourage her to be more adventurous with food. Other parents can also inspire their children and help them discover new and exciting flavours of healthy food,” she tells Metrolife.

Lee hails from Malaysia. Her Instagram and Facebook profile is full of pictures of dishes that she has created with lettuce, cous cous, beetroot and other vegetables most children runaway from. In the era of junk food, parents can try their hands at food art to have a wholesome meal at home.

For example, the Veggie Pita Burger becomes pita fish and Lettuce Cup becomes a grabby crabby (where the lettuce is cut out and spread in shape of a crab). For Grabby Crabby, she uses vermicelli noodles, lettuce, carrot, zucchini, spring onion and cucumber.

You have to cut thin strips of carrot and position three to poke out of each side of the crab’s body for making the legs. The body can be a crunchy lettuce leaf large enough to cover the vermicelli noodles. For eyes you can cut out the dark portion of cucumber skin and place it like a pupil on the bigger concentric horizontal slice. 

Lee has crafted some dishes in Holiday Inn for their kids menu, curated by the hotel and Nutrition Australia.

A masterclass was held where chefs helped parents craft some dishes.

She has been working with food art since 2008. She crafts dishes, inspired by the popular culture around her. Recently, she also came up with a Mohammad Ali dish. In 2011, she created a buzz through her Instagram profile, where she posted delectable and adorable dishes she made out of greens. Though she designs for kids, the dishes are equally good for calorie conscious ones.

Lee says that food art can be practiced over time. “Not only will kids learn about the different ingredients that make up their dishes, creative art also helps to stimulate the imagination.Food is multi-sensory, giving kids the opportunity to explore using their sense of touch, taste, sight and smell,” she says.

According to the chef, food also creates bonding between parents and children and even if parents are busy they can always take some time out. 

Some of the dishes she curated for the menu include Lettuce Cup, Lamb Skewers, Chicken and Pea Risotto, Rice Paper Rolls, Lentil Curry and for dessert kids can choose from favourites such as Apple Crumble, Fruit Popsicle and Banana Split, made with yoghurt instead of ice cream.