Entertainment of Wednesday, 28 February 2018

Source: Nick Robinson

LIFESTYLE: Four Instagram-worthy meals to show off your culinary prowess

Watermelon smoothie Watermelon smoothie

Everyone wants an Instagram page to be proud of, and there are certain shots that are always guaranteed to be a hit when you post them. From flattering selfies to adorable images of your puppy, there are lots of ways to get likes, and one sort of picture that’s unendingly popular is cleverly-lit cuisine.

Of course, you’re not going to cook something just because it looks good for a picture, but using your account to keep a food diary can actually be an ingenious way to improve your eating habits and refine your culinary prowess.

If it’s time to give your diet an overhaul, here are some suitably photogenic meal ideas to try your hand at…

#1: Start simple with a smoothie

Source: Max Pixel

Smoothies can look and smell as good as they taste, and they’re a great way to give your body a simple and supremely healthy boost. Luckily, they’re also very easy to make, especially if you’re a culinary newbie. Yogurt will act as your base, and Greek is a good choice if you want a little extra sweetness as well as plenty of protein thrown in. Pour this into your blender, add some milk and a few of your favourite fruits, and you’ll have a delicious grab-and-go breakfast ready to be snapped.

#2: A super healthy salad

Once you’ve mastered smoothies, you can begin making some healthy lunches to carry on your improved eating habits, and you can’t go wrong with a salad. Start by selecting some fresh green leaves. Lettuce is too dull to delight everybody’s taste buds, but rocket and cabbage can both be good alternatives. Next, throw in some more flavoursome additions, such as cucumber, tomato, pepper, and perhaps some raw broccoli to give you a great infusion of iron. Finish with a healthy protein like lightly grilled chicken or salmon, and you’ll have a riotously coloured bowl of good stuff ready for filtering. Veggies are excellent for foodie pics, because they vary in colour and texture, as this blog post on Deliveroo proves.



#3: A seafood extravaganza

Source: Max Pixel

Carrying the theme through to supper, it’s time to brainstorm what you can make for an evening meal, and we suggest a fresh fish dish to inspire your many Instagram followers. Mackerel, seabass, and swordfish are all slightly off the wall but similarly delicious choices. Plate them up alongside a home-made potato salad, a colourful array of roasted vegetables, and a slice of lemon to add some seasoning, and you’ll have a mouthwateringly good and magnificently photogenic meal to add to your Instagram.

#4: A deliciously daring dessert

Healthy eating is about moderation, so improving your diet doesn’t mean you have to cut dessert out entirely. Instead, we recommend that you simply limit your sugar intake a little. This means that when you indulge, you want to do it properly, and cheesecake is one of our favourite gluttonous delights. Gorgeous to look at, easy to make, and undeniably lip-licking good, it tastes just as delicious as it appears - and it can look absolutely stunning.

What photogenic delights will you choose to cook up in your kitchen? If you like, you can post some photos in the comments to show them off. We always love to see what other people have tried!