The Beauty Chef by Carla Oates is a beautiful cookbook filled with gorgeous, healthy and gut-supporting recipes that are incredibly delicious yet super approachable. Over 150 recipes that are gluten-free and mostly dairy-free, this book is sure to become your newest beauty and kitchen companion.
We're big believers that beauty begins in the kitchen and starts from the inside out. What you put into your body is a reflection of what your skin exhibits and the synergy of our bodies. In The Beauty Chef, Carla Oates, founder of the natural beauty company, encourages eating for glowing skin and optimum gut health. I was recently introduced to their collagen inner beauty prebiotic and fell fast in love with their notion of beauty beginning in the belly. The collagen, made with plants is used to promote your own levels of collagen, straight from the gut.
Aside from the eye-catching branding and array of natural skincare products, The Beauty Chef quickly made its way into my beauty regime easing digestion and improving the elasticity of my skin. With the success of their products, I was equally excited to get in the kitchen and create a few of their recipes.
"Beauty begins in the belly. If you work on balancing digestive health, then beautiful skin and vibrant health will follow." - Carla Oates, The Beauty Chef
With no gluten or refined sugar, and little to no dairy, The Beauty Chef recipes are a collection of dishes that are general enough to hit a range of tastes but niche enough to satisfy a range of tastes, each achievable. energizing and soul satisfying.
The Beauty Chef Recipes
Fig, Pomegranate, Radicchio and Feta Salad
A salad of bitter, sweet and savoury, this simple salad consists of its namesake and truly is the definition of beautiful food. There's an earthy, rawness to this dish with instructions to tear the radicchio and tear the figs – a roughness that is ironic to the daintiness of the salad. Whipped up in a few minutes, the beauty of this dish lies in the colours of the fruits and vegetables, the textures of the ingredients and the hints of cheese and nuts that gracefully add a richness to the subtle yet bold flavours of this salad.
Get the full The Beauty Chef recipe here.
Roasted Beet Root, Red Cabbage and Pomegranate with Labneh and Lamb Koftes
What we love most about this cookbook are their inhibitions when it comes to cultured foods, and this lamb is no exception. Rich and bursting with flavours, these lamb meatballs are what lamb meatball dreams are made of. The addition of nuts in the meatballs adds to smooth texture of the lamb and paired with a simple cabbage slaw, brightly balances one another. While I'm not a fan of lamb, there was something so familiar about this dish though one edit: beets are my favourite vegetable ever, and I found it could have done without it.
Cashew Butter Chicken
Butter chicken is one of my absolute favourite dishes. It's a dish we've only ever had in restaurants, but the opportunity of making our own especially with cashew in the title was one we couldn't pass up on. Rich and creamy, the cashews add a cheesy effect to the sauce. Instead of serving with quinoa, we opted for basmati rice, while we'd prefer naan/roti to soak up all the delicious sauce. Our only suggestion was to add more vegetables, like a medley of mushrooms, as we had a lot of sauce leftover but this recipe is a must.
Vanilla Date and Tahini Salted Caramels
The perfect combination of sweet and salty, these faux caramel squares are buttery and creamy with every bite. While we couldn't find the vanilla bean powder, these bites are made with tahini, almond meal, dates, coconut butter and seasoning, and made for the ultimate post-dinner treat. The only downside? It really does only make roughly 16 small squares, or perhaps it's our glutenous eye and appetite that made us want more. Either way, these salted caramels are a healthy yet decadent treat, perfect for any Whole30 snack.
Get the full The Beauty Chef recipe here.
The Beauty Chef Glowing Kitchen Tips
Echoing the notion that good health begins in the kitchen, The Beauty Chef offers glowing kitchen tips that truly encourage conscious living in and outside the belly. From natural cleaning products to natural beauty products, batch cooking, chewing your food and slow cooking, here are a few of our favourites:
1. Buy and Eat in Season: Cheaper and better for your body, shopping locally and investing in foods that are in season boost cleaning properties and work in synergy with your body.
2. No Dinner Stress: Definitely no arguing, but having a mindful dinner aids in digestion.
3. Find Good Food Suppliers: Finding the right butcher, baker and grocery and cheesemonger is as important as finding the right doctor. Food is medicine.
Verdict
If there's anything we ask of you is to repeat The Beauty Chef mantra of, beauty begins in the belly. This simple phrase is essential to overall wellbeing and mindful choices in and out of the kitchen. And if there's a second we ask is to check out their blog and make a few of their recipes. Easy, delicious and packed with gut health remedies, The Beauty Chef philosophy is in the right direction of where food and health collide.
Bon appetite,
Chef Sous Chef
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