HEALTHY EATING

The simplest way to encourage healthy eating is to prepare food that tastes fabulous. It is equally important to ensure the meals are also easy to put together.

Most people are aware that eating more vegetables, especially uncooked varieties such as salads are a vital part of a healthy diet. Unfortunately, the recipes are commonly bland at best.

Vegetables have a huge amount of health benefits, especially when eaten raw, but most people find them boring. However, a great dressing can change all that.

Artisan foods such as Womersley Fruit & Herb Vinegars, based in Yorkshire, are a life saver because they can produce deliciously simple salad dressings with the minimum of ingredients and fuss.

For example, mix a couple of tablespoons of a Strawberry & Mint Dressing with double the amount of a healthy Rapeseed oil such as Cotswold Gold or Oleifera and add a crushed garlic clove. Then drizzle this wonderful concoction over a stack of colourful mixed salad leaves, to ensure that they are consumed with gusto!

Most people only come across other types of raw veg as crudities; a sundry selection of chopped carrots, cucumber and probably some celery surrounding a dip. But with a bit of imagination a truly nutritious side dish can be produced.

Take those same basics, cut them into finer strips, add other really fresh veg such mange tout, green beans and maybe some fennel. Then stir in a dressing made from blended avocado, Womersley Golden Raspberry and Apache chilli vinegar dressing with some chopped spring onions. Then you have food that people will be eating by the forkful! (Just as they did on Market Kitchen!)

Once the concept of mixing beautifully flavoured condiments and fresh nature-made foods is understood, healthy eating on a daily basis becomes a culinary adventure and blissfully simple!

Dianne E Mower BSc (Hons) Dip. CNE ANLP

Managing Director

Healthy Eating Organisation