Healthy eating with model and author Sarah Todd
Eating like a supermodel isn’t all celery and low-fat cottage cheese. MADDIE LAKOS spoke to chef, restaurateur and former high-end fashion model Sarah Todd about her new book The Healthy Model Cookbook, and her tricks to staying slim and vital.
How can we eat like a healthy model?
It’s about nourishing your body. Instead of counting calories and wasting your energy on that, just focus on nourishing your body through good-quality ingredients – going to the market and picking what’s in season and going home to make something simple.
Why don’t you like to cut out foods?
I think we can put too much emphasis on ‘eat this’ and ‘don’t eat that’ and ‘cut this out’, so you forget that food is about enjoying things with your family and friends and appreciating what you’re eating rather than overcomplicating it, which is what happens here in India. Food for them is more of a communal thing; it brings people together.
What are your top tips for cooking creatively at home?
The biggest thing to think about is to find a balanced combination of flavours and textures. I learned that in MasterChef in the Mystery Box challenges, where they give you eight or nine ingredients and you have to make something out of that. You have to be creative with it, and work out how to balance a dish – whether it’s adding sweetness or acidity or saltiness. Then think about textures as well, for instance: something crunchy and something creamy. And once you’ve got those two elements – flavour and texture – then you can always make something delicious.
Why should we all try cooking creatively?
What that means is that you’re not restricted about classical dishes or traditional combinations – you can just look at ingredients and make something up on the spot. You have to look at flavours, not just recipes.
Article first published in nourish magazine
