Presentation at home is a thing. Thinking outside of the box for some fun in the way that your plating looks can take even the most basic foods and give them a little new life.

It’s particularly good “A-game” plating when you’re making something on one of those “in a hurry” kind of evenings.

I usually wait until a weekend to make my Tex-NewMex chili, made with Shiner Bock beer, and New Mexico’s Chimayo red chile powder.  I batch freeze the excess in smaller meals so I can pull it out for fast turnarounds on busy days.

This plating came about on one of those days.

One morning, staring at my freezer inventory, I was thinking about what to make for dinner. Chili mac, a classic American roadside diner delight, is very simple. You just add macaroni noodles to chili.

I explained what it was to a few of my brood. They weren’t loving the idea.

“How about just mac and cheese?” was my cuisine influencers’ call.

So I split the diff. Literally.

Chili on one side, mac and cheese on the other. Chili is a strong taste, so subtle mac and cheese can get lost here. This plating really screams out for an in-your-face kind American Diner M&C, which isn’t going to be a lovingly grated, top of the line cheddar. My Diner M&C is very fast mac and cheese, with a couple of riffs that give it some of the cheese sharpness that would be in a better cheddar mac.

So, knock off some of my Diner M&C. Reheat the chili. Then, to make it more special, do a little plating magic!