How to Make Dinner at a Buffet Restaurant an Adventure

Watching the Food Network and other cooking shows have really given me new and creative ideas for eating and motivated me to make meals at home more interesting. For this article, I will focus on a dish I thought of while eating at our local buffet restaurant.

It was the usual fare and my husband was happily eating his steak, butter beans, and fried okra while I sat and thought about which foods I would eat, using up my precious calorie allotment for the dinner hour and wanting to make it as delicious and satisfying as possible.

As I 'm walking around the food stations I remember hearing on the Food Network that fresh spinach only needs to wilt to be considered "cooked" and I decided to use that idea by putting the spinach leaves from the salad bar on my dinner plate and then placed warm, baked salmon on top. I guessed the heat from the fish would wilt the spinach. I made a sauce by mixing cocktail sauce with tartar sauce and put it on top of the fish and then I squeezed fresh lemon over everything. The first bite was such a fresh burst of flavor that it surprised me, albeit, pleasantly surprised. As Rachael Ray would say, "Yummo!".

I was proud of my "invention" and happy that it was a healthy meal too. It also had plenty of eye appeal with the bright green spinach and the light pinkish tone of the "made at the table" fish sauce. I give it two thumbs up!

Several time the servers will notice what I'm doing and make a comment. One noticed my "taco salad" that looked like I was eating from a menu at a sit down restaurant. Another asked what I was making as I stirred my "secret fish sauce" in the little plastic ramekin.

Just like designing houses or furniture or lawns, I think there is a place for food design. The function is inherant but making it look good and taste good is actually fun. Food design at the buffet restaurant is simple because all the ingredients are right there. There is no limit to what you can try.