Its all about presentation...

Our eyes are very powerful. Not only do they help us navigate to our destinations, but they have a heavy hand in deciding if something looks appealing. This can be applied to food, naturally.

Take this scenario...you go to a restaurant where you order a citrus infused roasted chicken accompanied by the best mashed potatoes and cauliflower flavored with fresh roasted garlic. It appears in front of you and looks like a plate of blah - all of the foods are the same color, there is no originality to the plating - nothing to excite your sense of site. Now the foods may taste amazing - but your first judgement of the food - before you even put it into your mouth - was blah.

Often times when cooking at home, we forget how important plating can be. Making your meal appealing - both visually and tastefully - is vital to helping your dining experience be enjoyable.

While complicated cooking can produce beautiful plates, I prefer simplicity - mostly because often I do not have the time to slave in the kitchen for hours on end. I find fruits and vegetables a fantastic base for creating a visually appealing dish. The rainbow of colors available make any meal easily creative and add a variety of vitamins and minerals to your diet. I always try to include a minimum of 3 different fruits or vegetables at each meal. A recent side dish included eggplant, zucchini and roasted tomatoes stacked atop each other with a layer of herbed chevre in between to blend the flavors. Another night we dined on a spinach salad with blueberries, strawberries, and avocados topped with grilled chicken breast.

For those of you who are tired of grilled chicken and steamed vegetables for dinner - get creative in your presentation! Try different vegetables - try different platings - try something DIFFERENT.