It’s all about the Presentation

To me presentation is very important when it comes to food. I love going to restaurants where not only does the food taste good, but it looks good too!

A lot of times, mainly for lack of time, I eat my meals out of tupperware or just thrown together in a bowl or on a plate. But when I have the time to present my food in a beautiful way then it just tastes so much better. It makes me feel more ‘refined’ I guess you could say. And trust me…I’m well aware this is all in my head, but I just think food is so much better when it is presented beautifully.

The other day I took time to eat my breakfast. I made whipped banana chia oats with some Sunland Raspberry Peanut Butter swirled in and spooned the oats in a pretty glass bowl. Then I topped with fresh blueberries and strawberries. Not only does this bowl look pretty, but it was major portion control. I ate much less oatmeal than I had actually made, and ended up having the rest the next day.

Same thing goes for dinner presentation. I love to use a variety of colors and textures in my meals to make things more interesting. Plus, like I’ve always said, that way I know I’m getting a variety of different vitamins and minerals. The other night I made grilled tuna with a peach and mango salsa, a veggie medley of summer squash, patty pan squash, and zucchini with fresh basil, and Uncle Ben’s brown rice.

The salsa all started with one very ripe mango.

Following IGE’s directions on how to cut a mango I went to town. Then added diced peach, diced red tomato, diced vidalia onion, chopped cilantro, salt, pepper, and agave to taste.

THEN I remembered my corn, chile, jalapeño, and cilantro salsa I made last week. I decided to add the rest of that salsa to the peach and mango salsa for more flavor and a little spice. It was EXACTLY what the new salsa needed.

I grilled the tuna on my grill pan until it was medium rare (I like it pink inside) and topped with the salsa. The veggies I just cooked in a pan over very low heat with a little bit of Greek olive oil and added some fresh basil towards the end for extra flavor and color. And the brown rice…well that is self explanatory.

Lots of colors make it appealing to the eye, and lots of flavors make it appealing to the mouth. Very delicious.

When you don’t have a lot of different colorful veggies to use, I try to always use fresh herbs to garnish the dish as a way to add a pop of color. The following night I made whole wheat spaghetti with fresh shrimp and three cheese marinara sauce. I added another veggie medley to the pasta which had green peppers, zucchini, and patty pan squash, but what really made the dish was the fresh basil I added at the very end to jazz everything up. It added a fresh, peppery, tangy quality to the pasta.

Shrimp for the lady…

Finished product with sauce and basil…

Home made Bolognese for the gentleman…

I love when I have the time to prepare a meal and present it nicely. Even if I am just eating alone, something about the whole experience feels special when you make it look nice.

What do you think? Do you care how your food looks?

Tagged as: fresh basil, Grilled tuna, peach and mango salsa, presentation, shrimp pasta, sunland peanut butter, uncle bens brown rice, vegetable medley, whipped banana chia oats