I've never been real happy with photos I've taken of food I've made,
so today I decided to try some simple experiments.

<http://i1196.photobucket.com/albums/aa407/Silvar_Beitel/RFC/Photograping%20Food/IMG_0577_1_zps200772b4.jpg>

shows the blueberry-nectarine tart I made last night (or rather what's
left of it) sitting on my kitchen counter, illuminated by a combination
of a 60-watt incandescent in a work light clamped to a cabinet shelf,
the light from a 40-watt halogen bulb in the cook-top hood, the light
from the under-cabinet LEDs, and some back-light from the central over-
head fluorescent fixture.

<http://i1196.photobucket.com/albums/aa407/Silvar_Beitel/RFC/Photograping%20Food/IMG_0578_1_zps19b79da2.jpg>

is a photo of the tart taken with the default camera settings (a Canon
PowerShot A620). It has a disappointing dull orange-y look.

<http://i1196.photobucket.com/albums/aa407/Silvar_Beitel/RFC/Photograping%20Food/IMG_0579_1_zps39fabc0e.jpg>

is what I got when I changed the white balance setting from "automatic"
to "incandescent." Quite an improvement, eh?

Finally,

<http://i1196.photobucket.com/albums/aa407/Silvar_Beitel/RFC/Photograping%20Food/IMG_0580_1_zps455a8a08.jpg>

is what I got when I used a piece of ordinary white copy paper on the
counter to set the "custom" white balance.

That last one looks closest to the real deal to me.

So, the conclusion: You may be able to get better color without
fancy lighting by simply playing with the color balance options on
your camera.

Or, with somewhat more effort, you can make a "whiter" light source,
like this nice MacGyver-ish example:

<http://thetiptoefairy.com/blog/2014/01/diy-soft-lights-photography-blogging.html>

Or, you might be able to take your food outdoors into natural light.
At dinnertime around here in autumn/winter (~7 p.m., New England USA)
that isn't really a viable option :-)

And of course, this addresses (barely) just color and lighting.
Composition, prep, table accessories, etc. are whole other topics.
Google "food photography tips" for more (than you'll ever want to
know if you're not a professional!)

Good luck.

--
Silvar Beitel