family friendly salmon and coconut curry

Don’t be put off by the long list of ingredients for the curry paste - this makes double the amount needed for this recipe and you can store the leftovers in the fridge or freezer for a super speedy curry next time. I used green beans from the freezer. I have started buying these so I can easily add some green to meals without shipping from miles away during the winter months. For a low carb meal serve this curry on its own. Or else serve with a small amount of brown or wild rice. If serving with rice then you will probably have leftovers of the salmon curry.

vegetarian chickpea and pepper stew

We always talk about eating the rainbow - incorporating lots of different colour foods, especially vegetables, in your diet. The benefits of each colour is to provide your body with different phytonutrients. This pepper stew includes red, yellow and green peppers. So many people just reach for their favourite pepper each week so we decided to celebrate all the colours with this stew. We also added both a red and yellow chilli to again increase diversity.

apple cinnamon and banana spelt muffins

Slightly indulgent in sweetness but full of fruity goodness, spelt wholesomeness and cinnamon warmth, those muffins are such a comforting treat after a long dog walk teamed up with a hot drink, a log fire and the papers maybe!

So so simple to make, I hope you give them a try and add to your kids’ lunch boxes or share with friends when catching up.

Butternut and black bean spicy one-pot

This recipe is for all of you out there who like a simple tasty one pot that keeps on giving! We all need those one-pot recipes in our busy lives. Simple, yet delicious heart warming, ideal to prep in advance and…packed full of vegetables, plant based protein, fibres and all round goodness. Leave the chorizo out for a vegetarian option. Delicious served with a warm corn tortilla wrap, mashed avocado and soured cream.

Top tips for breaking bad eating habits

I often find that it’s the habits we have formed along the way that derail us in our health journey. Whether it’s a snack mid afternoon as a pick me up – that’s eaten out of habit not hunger. Or the glass of wine poured while cooking that’s not necessarily wanted, but has become habitual. This month I am going to take the most common habits that I find with clients in clinic and come up with some simple suggestions that you can use to break these habits.

buckwheat and mushroom risotto

During the winter months we need warming comfort food and a risotto is perfect. This is lighter than a traditional risotto and uses buckwheat groats rather than a risotto rice. Buckwheat is a seed that is related to rhubarb and is naturally gluten free. See the tip below for the health benefits of buckwheat. This risotto is made with mushrooms. In the photo I have used chestnut, but use any kind you can find - a packet of mixed wild mushrooms if you can find would be perfect.

Pumpkin spice and pecan oat cookies

Cookies are not just delicious to eat, they’re such a joy to re-invent creatively! I like playing with the base ingredients, extras, and adjust with the seasons. These are flourless, naturally gluten free and contain no refined sugar. They are best eaten warm straight out of the oven and shared obviously!

Slow cooked venison winter stew

Nothing beats a stew when the shorter darker cooler days arrive. It is not only delicious, warming and comforting, it is also so simple and a real time saver. I chose venison from our local farm and butcher for this recipe. Being wild and grass fed, venison is much leaner than beef, and contains less saturated fat. Diced venison from your local butcher is also very affordable. We have used a slow cooker to cook this dish, which means that you can prepare it all in the morning and then get on with the day coming home to a perfectly cooked meal. For a conventional oven place in a low oven for 4 hours until the meat is tender.

warm squash and lentil salad

This might not be a salad in the traditional sense since it’s warm - but as the months turn cooler, adding warm elements to your salad makes sense. This is how I prefer to eat my salads in the autumn and winter. Sometimes I add just one warm element - or in the instance of this salad I have added a couple - including a spicy kick that’s guaranteed to warm you through.

Banana oat healthy cookies

Family life would not be the same without cookies! So I’m always trying new ingredients and combinations. But today this is just one of those healthy classic options that I keep re-inventing. Quick and easy, delicious, perfect for the kids to make themselves. What’s not to like! Perfect healthy snack for school pick up before heading to sport clubs!

Plum and ginger upside down cake

With Autumn comes a beautiful fruit season, especially when you live in Kent, the Garden of England, surrounded by orchards and this upside down cake is a great alternative to a crumble. It present beautifully, keeps well and is delicious with a little vanilla ice cream! It contains no sugar besides the fruits and a little maple syrup. It is naturally gluten free and so quick and easy to prepare.

Californian inspired salad with quinoa

After my recent trip to California, where I had lots of salads, I was inspired to make my own Californian salad. I have used ingredients that were used in many of the salads I tried - kale, quinoa, feta, avocado and almonds. It seemed typical of many of the salads to contain fruit. I am not a fan of fruit in my salad so instead chose to add lemon to a dressing and include some fruit that way!

Savoury tomato & herbs crumble

If you have never tried a savoury crumble, now is the time with this recipe! This is a fun, really quick and easy vegetarian meal you can put together in the evening for kids. It can be used as a side or as a main dish. Add Oregano as you herb of choice and it will taste like a pizza! Add olives and Herbes de Provence and you’ll find yourself in sunny South of France. I’ve had massive thumbs up and great success with kids with this recipe and you could turn it into a pick and mix where kids make their own veggie choices and share the crumble topping in individual dishes!

Olive, feta and red pepper bake- "cake aux olives"

This is hand on heart the easiest most delicious bake you could ever make ahead and keep for a healthy and balanced lunch.
Growing up, in France, I probably had something like this once a week! The flavour combinations are endless, vegetarian or not, you can go with the flow of seasonal veggies, add spices and even play around with flours. What’s not to like? My favourite is olive with anything.

gluten free buckwheat tabbouleh

I love the lebanese salad tabbouleh and it works brilliantly with buckwheat rather than bulgar wheat. Buckwheat is a gluten free grain despite the name so this salad is a fabulous gluten free alternative to tabbouleh. This might seem a lot of parsley - but tabbouleh is traditionally a parsley salad with a small amount of bulgar wheat. Parsley is packed with vitamin C and antioxidants and so very good for us.

Easy summer tomato gazpacho

This very easy gazpacho is all about enjoying and embracing summer ingredients. Full of gorgeous mediterranean vegetables and flavours, totally refreshing and perfect to make in advance. No cooking is involved and pretty much any blender will do the job. Just make sure you allow a couple of hours to refrigerate it. An absolute keeper to make again and again as a starter on a summer’s evening.

spiced green healthy falafel

Deliciously spiced, easy to make and very green these falafel are sure to be a hit. Falafel are traditionally deep fried, but we have baked them with just a brush of olive oil to make them healthier. We have spiced them using a Zhoug paste from Belazu that is seasoned with coriander and jalapeño. It’s easily available from supermarkets.

raspberry and coconut flapjacks

Most flapjack recipes are packed with sugar - but if you include some sweet fruit, such as raspberries then you can really cut down on the sugar content. We have used honey as well as the berries to sweeten these flapjacks. The first time I cooked these I left them on the side and when I came back to them my daughter and husband had helped themselves to quite a few squares. So these were definitely a hit and as they are super easy and nut free make a great school snack!