Adeline Waugh/Penguin Books
Adeline Waugh wants every recipe she creates to be not only made of healthy, natural ingredients, but look beautiful, too.
“I want to show that healthy eating doesn’t have to be boring,” the Miami-based author says of the new cookbook Vibrant & Pure: Healthful Recipes for Bright, Nourishing Meals.
Adeline Waugh.Adeline Waugh/Penguin Books
Her recipe for Unicorn Toast is the perfect example. The cream cheese is dyed with beet juice, turmeric, cinnamon and spirulina to make it pink, yellow, and bluish-green. It is garnished with dukkah, bee pollen and gold flakes.
“I love to create things that are as bright and cheerful as possible,” says Waugh, who runs the popular Instagram account @vibrantandpure.
The 75 recipes in her new book span a wide range for anyone looking to eat healthy while brightening up dark winter days, from pressed juices to Pink Caesar Salad.
Almost all of them are perfect for Instagram. If making photogenic food that begs to be shared on social media encourages people to eat better and have a sense of playfulness while doing it, well, that’s perfectly okay with Waugh.
“It’s just a fun way to eat healthy food,” she says.
Adeline Waugh/Penguin Books
Unicorn Toast
Ingredients (Serves 2)
- 2 slices bread of your choice
- 6 tablespoons cream cheese (non-dairy works)
- 3 teaspoons honey
- 1 teaspoon beet juice
- ½ teaspoon rose water
- ½ teaspoon ground turmeric
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon spirulina
Optional toppings
- ¼ teaspoon bee pollen
- ¼ teaspoon edible gold flakes
- ¼ teaspoon naturally dyed sprinkles
In a toaster, toast the bread to your preference.
In a small bowl, combine 2 tablespoons of the cream cheese and 1 teaspoon of the honey. Add the beet juice and rose water, and mix with a spoon until fully blended and pink in colour.
In a second small bowl, combine 2 more tablespoons of cream cheese and another teaspoon of honey with the turmeric and cinnamon, and mix with a spoon until fully blended and yellow in colour.
In a third small bowl, combine the remaining 2 tablespoons cream cheese and 1 teaspoon honey with the spirulina, and mix with a spoon until fully blended and light bluish-green in colour.
Put a dollop of each colour on each piece of toast, then blend them using even knife strokes to make a pattern, then garnish with the dukkah, bee pollen, gold flakes and sprinkles, if desired.
Excerpted from Vibrant & Pure by Adeline Waugh. Copyright © 2020 Adeline Waugh. Photography © 2020. Cover and interior photography by Adeline Waugh. Published by Penguin Canada, a division of Penguin Random House Canada Limited. Reproduced by arrangement with the Publisher. All rights reserved.
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