Purple and White Eggplant tower inspired by Caprese salad

Have you ever noticed how simple plating techniques can make your basic dishes look like haute cuisine?

We like to play around with our food and decided one day to layer our caprese salad as a tower.

We loved how easy it was to alternate layers of tomato, fresh mozzarella, and basil, drizzle our tower with extra virgin olive oil, and present a simple, but pretty dish.

Now this idea has become our easy go-to technique to make our entrees look even more elegant.

Have you ever walked through a farmers' market and bought vegetables that you thought looked pretty even though you've never cooked them before?  That's what happened when we spotted these eggplants - the familiar purple ones along with the (new to us) white eggplant.

Researching online, we learned that the white eggplant was the original eggplant (named because it looked like a giant egg) and that it was less mild and more tender than its purple counterpart.

We decided to make a purple and white eggplant tower because we loved the contrast of the eggplants.  We simply sliced them up and seared them in a pan.  We then made a simple tomato sauce (of garlic, red onion, canned tomatoes, mushrooms, rosemary, herbes de province, and salt and pepper).  Plating was just adding a bit of sauce, and then layering eggplant slices with basil.  The end result?  It tasted as good as it looked.

What are your easy, go-to techniques for making simple dishes look like restaurant entrees?