Today in my food lab class, we were examining starch cookery—in the form of polenta, fettuccine, and quinoa. When it came time to serve all three dishes, my lab partners graciously let me do the plating and presentation. If they only knew how much enjoyment I derive from making a pretty plate…

With a flourish of parsley and a perfectly placed blackberry, I had finished my food artwork. Soon enough, the professor caught a glimpse of our dishes and exclaimed, “Very nice. You should take a picture! Who has a cell phone?” Ha! No camera phone pictures for me—I quickly produced my camera for some “proper” food photography:

Do you spend time on presentation when you cook for others or for yourself? I certainly do–I think half the battle in making nutritious food appealing to others is creating an artistic presentation. Sure, a drab bowl of oatmeal or a ho-hum plate of beans looks pretty revolting…but not if you add a little color and creativity.

Let’s see how I chose to present my eats today…

With my newly replenished stock, I busted open a can of pumpkin this morning for a heavenly pumpkin-banana protein shake.

For lunch, I packed a modified Asparagus Tofu Salad, featuring green beans instead of asparagus.

Once home, I prepared a big honkin’ pot of ratatouille. This dish might be an epic failure in the presentation department when compared to the one featured in the Ratatouille movie. But seriously, who can make perfect bite-size circles out of eggplant?

Before I go, I thought I’d let you know that I just rocked an entire category of Jeopardy! while writing this post. Yee-haw! On that note, I bid you a good evening.

Filed under: Meals