gluten-free

A simple breakfast of jam on toast can so easily move from simple to healthfully decadent and abundant in nutrients too with this delicious jam. It’s heavenly on top of a sourdough or seed bread with a dollop of coconut yoghurt and some extra fruit such as banana or kiwifruit.

We usually have a variety of herbs in our fridge throughout the week, but by the end what’s left often looks a little weary. So rather than pop them in the bin or compost I try to make use of what remains by whipping up a scrumptious pesto. While a traditional pesto calls for pine nuts, ricotta, parmesan and olive oil I’ve swapped them for hemp oil and cashews, which create a beautiful earthy but creamy flavour. Serve with your favourite pasta — ours is pulse pasta — and some extra green vegies such as peas and you have a really delicious, wholesome meal.

One of the best things about nori rolls is that kids love to make them; when kids make things in the kitchen they also tend to eat them. I swap white rice for brown rice because it increases fibre and is a wholefood.

This frittata will provide you with everything you need from a meal in just one slice. It’s packed full of protein, carbohydrates, good fats and a healthy serve of vegetables. I’ll often make this on a Sunday afternoon in preparation for the week ahead. A slice of this is great for any meal of the day and fits perfectly into kids’ lunchboxes.

A pastry-free alternative loaded with maximum comfort and nutrition. This would also work well with any leftover legume-based dish you may have, perhaps Mexican-style beans or an Indian dahl.

This tart is a trusty friend when you want to take something simple but special along to a potluck feast or lunchtime communal gathering. Its gluten-free almond crust, filled with the flavours of creamy goat’s cheese, cumin, nutmeg and earthy pine nuts, just begs to be shared with others. A beautiful recipe to extend love through food.

This pie is a far cry from the basic meat and potato pie that most of us remember. The spices and long list of vegetables make it a truly healthy and hearty meal.

Turmeric has been used and well respected for 2500 years in India as an Ayurvedic medicine. This brightly coloured spice, which gives curry its lovely orange-yellow colour, has many outstanding health-boosting properties. Curcumin is also a highly effective anti-inflammatory as well as having strong antioxidant properties. Regular consumption of turmeric in the diet could protect you against infections, especially those of the digestive tract, as well as relieving arthritic conditions and helping protect you from cancers and Alzheimer’s disease.

I can’t tell you how important it is to follow a soaking process when preparing any legumes or pulses. If you have a careful look at your soaked legumes after 24 hours, you begin to see the sprouting shoots pop up underneath the skin. This sprouting process reduces the amount of phytic acid in legumes, which makes them much easier to digest. Phytic acid can also bind to essential nutrients, making them less available to the body. Reducing phytic acid levels releases more of these essential nutrients to the body. I find it easiest to soak, sprout and cook a lot of chickpeas at once. Then I freeze them into smaller containers and have them ready for use in a dish like this.

Having a curry spice on hand is such a delicious way to diversify the way you cook vegies and proteins and this recipe is a wonderful example of just that. If you don’t have tempeh then an organic tofu, chicken or fish will work well, too.

Lentils and other legumes are considered a low-GI food as they are digested slowly and won’t cause a sharp rise in blood sugar and insulin levels. The high protein and soluble fibre content of legumes slows the rate at which they leave the stomach and delays the absorption of its glucose. This makes them an ideal addition to the diet, especially for anyone having to watch their weight and blood sugar levels.

Chicken is an excellent source of protein containing branched-chain amino acids, leucine, isoleucine and valine, which are used to boost protein synthesis in the muscles as well as provide energy. Chicken also supplies vitamin B12, needed to support healthy nerve function and red blood cell production.