If you’re a startcooking.com regular, no doubt you’ve become more comfortable with basic cooking techniques. Now you’re making sweet and sour meatballs, tomato olive quesadillas, and know how to stir fry. Plus, you’re no longer wondering what mesclun is! Maybe you’re even thinking of inviting friends over to show off those new culinary skills.

Part of serving great food is presentation: like the Salad Nicoise pictured above, the should appeal to your mouth, nose and eyes. (Don’t they deserve a feast, too?) You don’t have to be a trained chef to learn the basics of plating, which is the art of presenting food in an attractive way. Don't worry, it’s not about making butter sculptures or radish animals (yet!). There seven simple ways to present your meals like a pro.

1. Set the table properly. Your day-to-day meals might be free-for-alls, but if you’ve got guests coming over, it’s nice to have the knives and forks in the right places.
   
2. Choose your plates wisely. Make sure your serving plates are big enough to let each food item stand out, but small enough that the portions don’t look tiny. Kathy used a square white plate for serving this Portobello and Goat Cheese dish, making it stand out on a bed of sauce. Many chefs prefer white dishes, so the food “pops” visually, but you can try another color. Dishes with bold patterns can detract from the food. If you’re serving something hot, pre-heat your plates by placing them in the oven (if they are oven-safe) or on top of the toaster. If you’re serving cold foods, cool your dishes in the fridge or freezer for a bit. You can always make the plate look a little nicer by placing the food on a leaf of Boston lettuce.
3. Read the clock! A foolproof way to arrange food on a plate is to place the carbohydrate (rice, pasta, bread, etc.) at “11 o’clock,” the protein at “2 o’clock,” and the vegetables at “6 o’clock” from the diner’s point of view. This will also help you portion correctly, if you remember that vegetables should cover about half of the plate, starch one fourth, and protein one fourth.
4. Be odd. Don’t be strange, but things generally look more interesting when they’re in sets of odd numbers, rather than even numbers. So if you’re serving shrimp or stuffed mushrooms, put five on each plate, rather than six. Don’t worry about counting out peas though!
5. Play with Height. This Chicken Stirfry with Broccoli looks more interesting because of the high mound of rice sitting next to it. Just like with centerpieces, it’s good to have a little bit of height, but don’t overdo it or your guests won’t know how to proceed! If you have a mound of mashed potatoes (mid-height), you may want to lean your pork chop against it so that it is standing up (high), with a row of snow peas (low) in front. Or, top some rice (low) with sliced grilled chicken (cut into a few diagonal slices, and fan them out) (mid-height) and cross asparagus over top of it (high).
6. Play with color and texture. Even if you’re serving something like fish fingers (pictured above), a rainbow of mixed vegetables on the side can make the dish look like a million bucks. If you’re serving up a pesto dish, which has a lot of green in it, you might want to pair it with something red (the complementary color) like tomatoes or red peppers. A dish of white fish, water chestnuts, and rice would look really boring, so make sure to punch it up! Similarly, mix up the texture. If you made a smooth vegetable soup, serve it with a carrot stick and a celery stick (maybe an inner one with some of the delicious little greens still attached) across the top of the bowl. If you made a (smooth) steak, top it with some (crumbly) feta cheese or walnuts. Kathy's Pear and Blue Cheese Salad (pictured below) is a great example of a mouthwatering mix of textures.
7. Garnish appropriately. Don’t lose sight of the recipe you made in the first place! Any garnishes on the plate should be edible and should enhance the flavor of the main dishes. Grilled salmon might be served with a lemon wedge, for example. And remember the pesto in tip number 5? A perfect garnish for a pesto dish would be pine nuts and maybe some fresh basil. Garnishes, like the cut-up fruit with the fried egg below, are also a great way to add color or texture.

If you’re really into food presentation, you might enjoy etabletop’s A-Zs of Food Presentation. Find out what two tools are considered essential for plating by ideasinfood. And learn to make cherry tomato flowers, a watermelon basket, carrot curls, and more at recipetips. Don’t spend TOO much time on your presentation, and have fun with it!

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