Sunday Lunch for "My Man"

Okay mom, now you have made me self-conscious. As I was standing there at the sink looking out at my bird bath that I LOVE, halving baby cherry tomatoes for David's lunch, I thought for this first time, "Is this weird? Doesn't everyone do this?"  I guess I know the answer is automatically no, but I hadn't really thought about it before.  

I guess since over 75% of my tv watching is The Food Network, The Chew or the PBS Saturday lineup, I have just started to pick things up that have become automatic behavior in my day to day life.

White plates make food pop, and if you can get white plates with a little flair, even better!

I guess while "normal" people are thinking about nutrition - is there a veggie or two, a protein, a starch? I'm thinking - is there something sweet, sour, salty, crunchy, are there different textures and colors on the plate?  I blame the cooking competitions like Chopped and Cutthroat Kitchen. Worst criticism ever would be my food is "one note".

"Oh, there's no crunch'" I thought and added a handful of chopped almonds.  There.

Red, green, yellow, brown, white ... I think the colors are covered.

There's nothing particularly sweet .... a side of watermelon!

But the two biggest things I have learned is SEASON VERY STEP and  ALWAYS ADD SOME ACIDITY.  It is amazing what a squeeze of lemon or a dash of vinegar can do to a meal.  The food doesn't taste acidic, just brighter and more vibrant.  So, a squeeze of lemon and lunch is ready!

I have learned from Rachel Ray to Geoffrey Zakarian over the years and David is the beneficiary for sure. Mom, you are right, and it may be very 1954 of me, but I do like to cook for "my man".