Color Me Healthy.

One obvious way to tell whether or not you're eating healthy foods is to think about color. Most unhealthy food is a boring taupe color you might consider for wall paint. Food is meant to attract us with vibrant colors and enticing smells. One way to think about it is to compare food to fashion. You wouldn't want to wear something ugly, so why would you want to put something ugly inside your body?

Think about the staples you have in your kitchen that are mostly color-less (pasta, rice, potatoes, couscous, bread, cereal, etc.) Try to add at least two or three different colors to your dish. Don't forget that herbs add color and make a spectacular taste improvement. Try to add fruit to cereal, vegetables to pasta and VOILA! Color yourself healthier.

Here's a beautiful example:

And here's the recipe (from http://www.nirvanaskitchen.com)

2 cups fussili pasta (uncooked cups that is)

1 cup fresh broccoli florets

1 cup of thinly sliced peppers (I used red pepper)

Handful of chopped parsley

1 cup cherry tomatoes

For the Dressing:

2 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice

4 to 5 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon of white vinegar

1 garlic clove, crushed

1 teaspoon honey

Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

1. Boil the pasta according to package instructions until al dente

2. Set the pasta aside when done to cool, coat it in a teaspoon of olive oil so that it doesn't stick together.

3. Add the broccoli florets and peppers. The broccoli should be cooked in boiling water for no more than 4 minutes - you want them to still have a good "crunch" in them. Once you remove them from the boiling water, run them under cold tap water so that they stop cooking,

Tip: Don't throw away the broccoli stems - they taste fantastic in a stir fry or in fried rice

4. Chop the cherry tomatoes in half and throw them into the mix

5. Add the onions to the mixture - make sure they are thinly sliced, we don't want any chunky pieces in here.

6. Add the parsley.

7. Make the vinaigrette by mixing all the ingredients together with a whisk. Taste and adjust the seasoning as necessary - you may add more lemon juice if you wish.

8. Add the vinaigrette to the salad and mix it to make sure that all the ingredients are well-coated.

9. Taste and adjust the seasoning as you see fit.

And no, this doesn't count: