Can Food Look Too Pretty to Eat?

I’m not a person who spends a lot of time in the kitchen trying to make what I cook look pretty.  For me, cooking serves a purpose—feeding my family and my friends.  That means getting a meal on the table almost every night.  How the dishes look is much less important to me than how they taste.

Sometimes by accident I do make a dish that’s camera-ready, and that’s very satisfying.  Take this colorful vegetable medley: cooked yellow and orange bell peppers mixed with sugar snap peas and fried onions.  I even found a serving plate that picked up the same colors.

Did this vegetable platter taste any better than my usual side dishes?   Probably not, but I was too busy admiring it to notice. 

Vegetable Medley – serves 4 

3 tablespoons olive oil or canola oil – divided use
1 large onion, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 large orange bell pepper, de-seeded and sliced into 2-inch lengths
1 large yellow bell pepper, de-seeded and sliced into 2-inch lengths
1/2 pound sugar snap peas, strings removed
1 teaspoon soy sauce 

Add 1 tablespoon oil to a large frying pan or wok and begin heating over medium-high heat.  When the oil is hot, add the onion, garlic and black pepper and stir-fry for several minutes, or until the onions have softened.  Transfer to a bowl and set aside. 

Add 2 tablespoons oil to the pan and continue heating over medium-high heat.  When the oil is hot, add the bell pepper pieces and sugar snap peas and stir-fry for about 3 minutes, or until the peppers and peas have softened slightly.  

Return the onion mixture to the pan.  Add the soy sauce and stir-fry for another minute.    Transfer the vegetables to a platter or bowl and serve.  Or set aside until needed.

                            For more recipes, order "Help! My Apartment Has a Kitchen!"