For most of us, enjoyment is the most important reason for eating. Good health does not mean deprivation. One can find great pleasure in eating flavoursome, appealing foods presented in an inviting atmosphere. A savvy cook knows that the appearance and presentation of food is just as important as flavour. Fortunately, that doesn't have to add much, if any, time to your meal preparation.

The two main categories in making food appealing are the food itself and the atmosphere in which the food is served and eaten.

FOOD It hardly takes a statistician to point out what studies show: flavour tops nutrition as the number-one reason we buy one food over another. Flavour is really several sensations blended together: taste, smell and touch (temperature and texture). With even one sensation diminished, the flavour is changed entirely.

Start with taste. To keep your taste buds perked up, don't duplicate flavours in a meal.
Too similar: Orange-glazed chicken with sweet potatoes
Better: Sage- and garlic-roasted chicken with sweet potatoes
Similarly, don't serve the same food twice. If you have cheese and biscuits after dinner, avoid cheese at dinner. Serving a variety of foods ensures a variety of nutrients, one of the main messages of the food pyramid.

Vary colour. A meal with a colourful palette has lots more appeal than a bland one. Children especially like colourful foods.
Bland: Grilled sole, cauliflower and mashed potatoes
Better: Sole with lemon, roasted red new potatoes and steamed broccoli

Vary texture. Don't have it all crunchy, or all mushy.
Too similar: Creamed soup, soft dinner rolls and a dish of apple sauce
Better: Creamed soup, a crisp salad and crusty bread

Vary temperature. Except, perhaps on a sultry summer day when only cool, crisp salad and an iced drink will do, vary the temperature of the foods you serve. Hot mashed potatoes and roast turkey with gravy goes well with some cool, crisp carrot and celery sticks.

Vary shape.
Too similar: String beans, chips and sausages
Better: Sausages, mash and baby peas

Source: http://www.ivillage.co.uk/dietandfitness/nutrition/healthyeat/articles/0,,252_701332,00.html