As the saying goes…

As the saying goes…we are what we eat. I was making an Asian inspired meal tonight and was inspired by the beauty of the fruits and veg I was using. I know I often judge a meal by its “presentation points” (a phrase often used in my family for how good a meal looks on the plate), however, tonight I thought about this concept slightly differently. What if we judged a meal not only for its presentation but by the “beauty” of the garbage made throughout the meal’s cooking process? I took this picture of my discarded scraps – isn’t it gorgeous (the picture doesn’t do it justice;)? My compost bowl was full of bright purple from my red onion, vibrant yellow hues from my mango and papayas, and lush greens from my coriander and romaine.

On the other hand, when did cooking involve such a great amount of waste? I think back to when people made meals directly from the land from which the food came from; there was no saran wrap, Styrofoam, or plastic containers.  In the future, I will be now rating my meals by the presentation of my trash as well. Yuck…see below.