Colors

"I lack the magnificent richness of color that animates nature. "

Paul Cezanne 

One of the most wretched things that has happened to food in this country is the stripping of its natural colors to replace them with artificial hues that simply do not exist in nature.  For instance, wasabi. Wasabi is a root that is similar to horseradish. So much so, that what you buy as wasabi paste in most cases is really horseradish flavored with mustard and colored with bright green food coloring. And I do mean bright. When my husband ordered some tuna seared in sesame seeds at a restaurant a few weeks ago, it came with a scoop of "wasabi paste" which was the most flourescent thing I've ever seen on a plate intended for human consumption. Why, I asked myself, would you want to mess with nature's unbelievable colors for something that looked frighteningly like nuclear waste??

With this in mind, here is what's on the menu tonight: chef salads with the bounty of nature's colors available this fall.

Start out with a layer of spring mix greens, or my favorite, chopped romaine. On top of that, layer some thinly sliced cucumbers, sliced baby carrots, sliced or chunked red, yellow or orange bell peppers, and cherry or grape tomatoes if you want. You can stop here for an awesome salad, or you can add the meat ingredients for your chef salad.

I added sliced smoked ham slivers, sliced and slivered roast chicken breast, hard boiled egg slices, cheddar cheese, and topped it off with some drizzled ranch dressing. Add a side of homemade Vienna loaves and some of the best organic strawberries we've had this year and you have a whole meal with very nearly every color in the spectrum. 

I have heard that if you want to eat healthy, just eat every color of the rainbow every day. I don't know if that's true, but it would make you happier, I'm sure.