Who Says Playing With Your Food is a Bad Thing?
Remember when you were little and your parents used to yell at you for playing with your food? Well, food artist Samantha Lee proves that you deserve to have the last laugh. Lee, who is a Malaysian mother, uses simple ingredients from her kitchen to create edible masterpieces for her daughters. The dishes are bursting with color and made with healthy ingredients, demonstrating that healthy eating can, indeed, be fun! Lee’s plates have garnered national attention because of their ability to tell a story using food (often leftovers!) and simple tools.
Lee has had multiple partnerships in the past couple years that have showcased her innovation and talent. In 2014, Lee affiliated with Mastercard and the charity Stand Up to Cancer for a campaign. Mastercard donated money to the cause every time one used one’s card to dine, and Lee’s edible art pieces served as the promotional images to encourage people to eat out. Some of her dishes for this association included a spaghetti volcano with tomato sauce lava and people climbing it made out of different veggies; seaweed shadows of people standing on top of oyster rocks; and two lovers under an umbrella with their outfits made out of tomato and lettuce. In the same year, Lee was also invited to to design cat food art for Zespri using their green kiwi fruit. The cat’s body was made out of a bread roll sliced in half, and was then covered in cream cheese. The kiwi was incorporated as the grass that the cat“stood on.”
Are you wowed yet? Convinced that healthy eating is fun? I certainly am. Kudos to Lee for inspiring us to tell the children in our lives to continue playing with their food...as long as it encourages them to eat healthily.
Make sure to check out Samantha Lee’s edible masterpieces on her Instagram @leesamantha or on her website: www.leesamantha.com.