Food is a multi-sensory experience of sight, smell, taste and sensation. In continuation of the musings on the pleasures of food texture here are some thoughts on the pleasures of color on your plate.

There is a name for the absence of color in your diet - the beige diet. Many kids are on it, but some not so adventurous adults as well. It's a diet of meat (browns) and starches (beiges - pasta, potatoes, bread, rice), absent of fruits and vegetables that is monochromatic and boring to look at.

I love seeing vibrant colors on my plate. The jewel tones of ripe red peppers and tomatoes, of red cabbage's and eggplants' dark purple, the deep orange of bell peppers, carrots or persimmons, summer squash's intense yellow, beets' dark garnet red, in addition to the myriad greens of broccoli, zucchini and all the leafies are just so joyful to look at. They add to the complexity of our eating experience. Produce's color is an all important indicator of its varied nutritional components, besides adding visual pleasure and vibrancy to our food experience. So, do "eat a rainbow," as they say.