Conceptualize food plating is an art form: you are the artist; the plate is your canvas, and the food is your medium. A well thought out food plating stimulates appetites before the first bite and uses ingredient arrangement to create flavor and textural complexity. And Belgium-based mom of two Jolanda Stokkermans (aka De Meal Prepper), definitely master this technique. She is able to turn everyday meals into incredible food art. From animal portraits to pop culture characters, each striking meal not only looks amazing, but also creatively comprises healthy ingredients.
The food artist doesn’t only create these incredible meals for her kids, she also shared the food prep advice for busy families on her site De Meal Prepper. When faced with how to visualize her “cook ahead” menus, Stokkermans said “I didn’t want to just make a dull picture of some food on a plate so I tried to be a bit creative and made some figures out of the meals.”
According to Stokkermans, it usually took between two to four hours to complete a meal. And to make sure it is healthy, she uses vegetables, tomato sauce, natural food coloring, soy sauce, or spices to create color into the dishes. So basically, everything on the plate is edible.
Scroll down to check out some of Stokkermans’ amazing food art, and follow her on Instagram for even more. As for make one yourself? Hehe, I guess most of us won’t have that luxury to spend 4 hours on preparing a meal like this. So, let’s just eat it with our eyes.
Sashimi Turtle
Sushi rice with fresh salmon sashimi.
Panda Delight
Great side dish with wild and white Basmati rice, black beans and a puree of beans. Spice up with fresh parsley, chives, and garlic.
Happy Rabbit
Greek pasta with tomato sauce and haricots.
Meet Eddy, The Meal Prepper’s Dog
Creamy risotto with lentils and pearl barley. Serve wit braised mushrooms and fresh herbs.
Woodpecker Delight
Sushi rice with shiitake and wild mushrooms.
The Eye Of The Tiger
Spicy sushi plate with rice, carrots, edamame beans, peppers, and bacon! Serve with ginger, wasabi and soya sauce.
African Beauty
Veggie vermicelli with homemade fresh tomato sauce, carrots, green peppers, onions, and garlic.
Sweet Texas Duck
Creamy vegan chocolate risotto with cacao nibs!
Karma Chameleon
Spicy couscous with carrots, broccoli rice, and sweet corn. Perfect as a side dish or main course.
Penguins Delight
a sweet rice and couscous dish with vegan mascarpone, sugar, spirulina and a little kurkuma.
Raccoon Rice
Creamy vegan risotto with mushrooms, topped with a little bulgur, black rice and a delicious truffle sauce.
Carrot Stew Squirrel
a stew of carrots, potatoes, onions and a green apple.
Green Parrot Salad
Healthy sidedish, made of salad, peppers, sunflower and sesame seeds, cucumber, parsil and a little mashed potatoes.
Foxy Lady Breakfast
Greek yogurt, marmelade, wheatgrass, cacao powder and chocolat nibs.
Pelican Plate
side dish with sushirice, wasabi, nori and a little couscous for decoration.
Flamingo Delight
Creamy garlic mashed potatoes, carrots and eggplant, with a yogurt dressing.
Bengal Beauty
An aromatic plate of black and Thai jasmine rice. Serve with steamed vegetables and soy sauce.
Veggie Chicken
Creamy cauliflower puree and orzo with chicory, leeks, broccoli, carrots, bel pepper and green beans.
Tasty Snake Dip
Chickpea and avocado dip, with green peas, sweet corn, lentils, tomato, kapers and zucchini.
Koi Shaped Salad
Tasty vegetarian sidedish, with Russian salad: potatoes, herbs, sliced carrots and cucumber, eggplant, mayonnaise, raw onions and grapes.
Mister High Tea
Tasty and fresh cucumber sandwich with cream cheese, black pepper, chives and parsil.
Red Cardinal Rice
Tasty black and white rice dish with red peppers and leeks.
Chewbacca Pasta
Mixed carb dish with whole grain pasta, pearl couscous and black rice, spiced up with kurkuma and chili powder.
