Banana bread loaf

I’m so happy to say I’ve been getting some wonderful feedback from people who have read my book Eat Well Live Well with The Sensitive Foodie. As well as gaining some useful insight from the first half (which covers loads of information about health, food and plant-based eating), they’re loving the recipes.

It seems that my simple banana bread recipe is a particular favourite. I’m not surprised as it’s really easy and super yummy. It’s also the one that gets raved about whenever I make it for an event or shared lunch. Continue reading “Banana bread loaf”

Potato, leek and mushroom ‘gratin’

Food waste is big news. And so it should be. It’s estimated that 18 million tonnes of food ends up in landfill every year in the UK alone. Globally the figure is a mind-numbingly huge 1.6bn tonnes, almost a third of what’s produced. At a time when food poverty still affects one in nine people, that just seems wrong.

And as the UK government formally declares a climate crisis, food waste comes high on the agenda of things we can do to make a different. Climate scientists state that reducing food waste is the third most impactful thing we can do (eating a plant-based diet is top of the list!). Which is good news. And there are some great initiatives going on that help get unused food to those who need it (like Fareshare) and even apps that enable you to find someone local who wants your unwanted food (like Olio). Continue reading “Potato, leek and mushroom ‘gratin’”

Creamy mushroom pasta

Following on from my ‘brain food’ post yesterday (plant-based foods that are particularly good for the old grey matter) I wanted to share one more with you – mushrooms. According to an article on the BBC website this week, a research study suggests that people who eat mushrooms more than twice a week have less age-related cognitive decline that those who didn’t. This means they performed better on memory and recall tests, good news for mushroom lovers!

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The study was small and the research cannot make a direct cause and effect link (so hard to do as there are so many other factors to take into account). However, it does suggest there is something in mushrooms that can benefit the brain. As with all fresh produce, mushrooms contain a whole array of micronutrients and phytonutrients. In fact, mushrooms as medicine is a huge area of research at the moment. Continue reading “Creamy mushroom pasta”