I am a creature of habit.  I like to make the same two or three things for breakfast everyday.  It changes over time, but for a while, it stays the same. Of late, my go-to breakfast is one egg, sunny side up, and about 1 ½ cups of fresh spinach sauteed in 2 t. olive oil.  (I could say, “Fried,” but that sounds so unhealthy so I’ll stick with sauteed.) It is rather pretty with white and golden yellow and bright green. I don’t ever remember caring much one way or the other whether my food looked pretty until recently.  Now, I do. Now, it has become an unspoken goal that I strive to attain at each meal.

Let me explain.  I wanted to break out of my routine the other morning, so I decided to have oatmeal with chopped apple and walnuts, rounded off with a dash of cinnamon instead of my standard egg-spinach combination.  Really, I was craving some carbs. When I got my bowl out of the microwave, I could barely eat it. It was so bland looking. The cinnamon aroma was enticing, but visually it was a dud. It got eaten. I’m way too frugal to throw perfectly good food away, but it wasn’t very satisfying.  It reminded me of what you might see in a care facility. Not appetizing at all.  

In contrast to that meal, I attended a food tasting for my daughter’s upcoming wedding. One of the appetizers was a skewer with this pattern: one mozzarella chunk, one leaf fresh basil, one cherry tomato, one fresh basil leaf, and one last mozzarella chunk.  A balsamic glaze, rich and mahogany, was drizzled artistically over it all. Beautiful! After being asked which were some of my top choices of the tasting, my first response was this skewer.  I actually said, “The skewer was easy to eat, delicious, and so gorgeous with the white, the red, and the green.  Think how that would look on the buffet!”  Compared to the tannish cheese-filled rice ball or the whitish noodles with tan bolognese sauce we also tasted, it wasn’t even a choice for me.  Give me those lovely, inviting colors, paired with delicious taste any time.

So this morning, to my usual work week breakfast combo, I added 3 cherry tomatoes. Now I had golden yellow globes in pure white frames accompanied by bright green spinach, and cheery, cherry red tomatoes.  Wow, that was pretty. It tasted great and was so satisfying.  Yes, food needs to look pretty, too!

P.S. Here’s a photo of a similar breakfast from another day. I didn’t think about snapping a picture this morning. Besides, it was so gorgeous, I couldn’t take the time. I had to eat it.