Originally posted on 1 December 2014...

Making yourself a satisfying, tasty and healthy lunch does not have to take half an hour... mine today took all of 3 mins!

Like most of you, I really don't have time to spend hours preparing or cooking food. I'm working, still got my 10 month old at home full time and the big one from 3pm... it's a juggle and therefore things have to be easy to do.

Some really simple principles can help SO much... here's a few:

1) Cook once, eat 3..4.. times - this is not just your usual leftovers. When I cook a grain (brown rice, quinoa, millet, wholemeal couscous) I always cook more than I need so I can use it in another preparation

2) Wash your greens (kale, spinach, salad, roquette) in advance and keep in fridge. I use a salad spinner for the salad leaves, but kale, spinach, mizuna, are best wrapped in a clean tea towel

3) One bowl dish - just throw a few things in together and mix (less washing up too!). Here is my generic recipe for the one bowl dish

A green leaf - chopped small (today it was mizuna)

a few spoons of a grain (today was couscous)

a few seeds - pumpkin, sunflower, hemp, sesame (today was hemp and sunflower)

a bit of 'umami' - that tasty stuff - few olives, bit of goats cheese or feta, sundried tomatoes (today olives and goat's cheese)

some good olive oil and a squeeze of lemon juice and bit of black pepper

You could also add a few beans or bit of fish if you eat it, some chopped pear and walnuts, some tomatoes and basil in the summer... the possibilities are endless.

Eating well doesn't have to be complicated... it's child's play!