You eat with your eyes....

True, isnt't it? It's all about the presentation of your food. Simply put, if you like the way the food looks, the chances of you giving it a go are pretty high. It's true for children too. Parents go through a lot of effort to make the food for the wee ones look interesting - 'cos if they are fascinated by the look of their dinner, they will certainly give it a go. Ofcourse, we adults aren't any different. Put a nice clean plate of food. Infact, a friend last night mentioned something she had prepared for dinner once. A simple salad dish of mozzarella, tomatoes with a pesto dressing....now, how gorgeous is that...Imagine the colours on the White plate - Red ripe tomatoes with White mozzarella and topped with a Green pesto dressing - now, who, wouldn't want to eat that? This is what I mean by making your food look beautiful.

This leads to why nothing better than using plain white plates for serving your food. One can see the beautiful contrasts of food on it - too much pattern on a plate, or bright colours kind of take the focus away from the food - a bit of injustice to the cook.

Another thing of simple garnishes - I am not talking about towers of garnishes, but simple herb garnishes do make the food look appetising straight away. Imagine eating a simple Mushroom Risotto in a deep white bowl- now, won't a little green something, maybe a bit of parsley or some deep green extra virgin olive oil drizzle on top make the dish a bit more attractive right away?

Some cooks are of the very strong opinion that you should always garnish with the ingredients of your dish - then people know exactly has gone in the dish - quite right, I say, especially if one can't make out the ingredients easily. WYSIWYG (What you see is what you get). On this note, I leave you today with a little recipe of a simple dish using vibrant colours to enhance its presentation.

Poha (Flaked Rice Salad) - Serves 2

Ingredients
1 cup flaked rice (available in any Asian grocery shop)
1 cup peas
1 red onion, finely sliced
1/2 tsp turmeric powder (available in most supermarkets or any Asian grocery shop)
1 red tomato, de-seeded, finely chopped
1/2 cup roasted peanuts, roughly crushed
juice of 1 lemon
handful of coriander, finely chopped
1 green chilli, de-seeded and finely chopped
1 tbsp olive oil/vegetable oil
2 tbsps milk
salt to taste

Method
- wash the flaked rice in cold water in a sieve
- add the oil to a hot pan
- add the onions and cook until transparent
- add the turmeric powder
- add the peas and saute for about a minute
- add the flaked rice and mix thoroughly with the other peas and onions
- add the milk to moisten it and cover and cook for about 2 - 3 minutes
- now add the tomatoes, chilli and the peanuts
- add the salt
- sprinkle the lemon juice
- garnish with some finely chopped coriander (all over ) and a wedge of lemon on the side
- serve on a white plate

Imagine eating this yummy Poha out of a white plate - the gorgeous colours of the yellow poha with green coriander, red tomatoes, creamish peanuts and the yellow wedge of lemon just make it so lovely. Promise to post some pictures soon. Do try this dish - is simple, healthy and good for you - doesn't take more than 10 minutes to make and so, so pretty..........