Creative Meal Garnishes

Making food look good is key to making an ordinary meal look extremely appetizing. For this reason alone, many college cafeterias have started putting little parsley "garnishes" on their meal selections; whether or not their tactics are working to make students more apt to enjoy their cafeteria meals is debatable, but the idea behind their actions is the same as many popular restaurants.

Making a dish look appealing is a huge selling point for many chefs. While this may seem like a big restaurant/industry scheme alone, it can also be a great way to improve the overall attractiveness of your own home cooked meals. Here are a few simple ways to guarantee that your meals always look aesthetically pleasing.

1) Always have a few "accent" colors on your meal platters. Reds and oranges are a great way to add color and excitement to any meal; yellows also work well. I would suggest using peppers (red, yellow, or orange) to add slices of color to an otherwise bland looking stir fry. Carrots are also a great color- adding vegetable; squash, if prepared correctly, can also add a colorful element to your meal. Basically, serving meals that only have the required ingredients that are all of neutral colors can be boring oftentimes; adding a fun accent color vegetable will make these meals look immensely more appetizing and appealing.

2) Use your vegetable bases as creative "flower" center piece garnishes. For example, most people throw away the bottom portion of heads of cabbage or bok choi; instead of tossing away these portions, turn them flower side up and wash them to use them as centerpieces in the middle of your vegetable dishes. Although they will not necessarily have the color-adding element, the intricate natural floral designs of the vegetable's head will be interesting enough to make your dish look great.

3) Leave room for garnishes on your meal plates; do not overcrowd them with huge portions of food. Most Americans make a habit of overeating regularly at meal times; don't fall into this trend. Instead, leave room on your plates that you serve your family for small garnishes/fillers that will make the portion look larger without being overbearing. Springs of parsley, a small arrangement of carrot shavings, or even lemon slices work great as these garnish fillers. Not only will these garnishes be making your meals look more appetizing, they also serve the dual purpose of preventing you from creating unnecessarily large portion helpings.