When we were in Thailand we got quite heavily into a vegetable that's called Morning Glory (!) over there. I mean, we had it every day by choice and sometimes I'd have had it for breakfast too in one of their tasty omelette things. It's kind of like big robust spinach but more crispy and crunchy when stir fried, with straw-like stems and a sweet, green flavour. It's indiginous to Thailand, but there are other Chinese varieties that are similar. I've been searching for it high

After my recent success with wild garlic I've been wondering what other foodie freebies nature's bounty has to offer, and a day in my embarrassment of a garden meant that I was left with a glut of freshly harvested nettles. I've seen the odd recipe for nettles (yes, the stinging variety) and was keen to try my hand at it. I like nettle tea, so thought it would be a fairly safe bet and after all, they are free. The April issue of BBC Good Food magazine has a piece on wild garl

This is summer on a plate. Sitting in the garden eating this in 25C sunshine, I could almost imagine I was on holiday were it not for the Northern line interrupting my reverie every three minutes and the fact I was sober. Swordfish is a big meaty fish and one that probably even people who don't tend to like fish would like - especially as the steaks are boneless. It's very firm in texture, even more so than a tuna steak, and really stands up to robust flavours like this Cajun

Spring is kind of here and the courgettes are getting fat, so it must be time for courgetti again. I'm a long time fan of this pasta dodging summer staple and over the last year or so it seems everyone else has got on board with it too, with foodie stars like the fab Hemsley & Hemsley and Deliciously Ella really championing it. I love pasta, I really really do, but my waistline does not so I try and save it for a treat now rather than mindlessly eating it as a quick midweek d

For those who don't know, Mrs Parmar is my next door neighbour and an amazing cook of Indian foods. She hails from Gujarat via Uganda and has lived in North West London since the early 70's and the nasty business with Idi Amin; for the last two of those years she has been making and bringing me the most incredible vegetarian curries you can imagine and lately I have been forcing the poor lady to teach me her skillllllz. She likes me coming over really, don't worry, and this t

The girls came over for dinner the other day, and to allay the fact that I knew we would drink a bottle of wine each, I was minded to make a healthy meal. Flicking through the (excellent) Polpo cook book, I spotted this little gem which I have actually eaten at Polpo and know to be yummy: Cod cheeks with lentils and salsa verde. Norman claims that your fishmonger should be able to sort you out with some cod cheeks given a day or so's notice, but I had mere hours so had to set

The fish counter is your allie this month, and squid particularly so. With a whacking great 200g portion coming in at just 100 calories, squid should be top of every dieter's shopping list. If you're buying from a supermarket then in all likelihood it will come all ready cleaned and prepped so there is reallynothing to be scared of either; there will be little tubes of squid and the mini octopussy but will be inside. I removed this part this time and set aside for another rec

The idea of using lettuce as a vessel for shovelling delicious things into one's mouth is nothing new, but it is a handy weapon to have in your weight loss arsenal. There are loads of things you can do with a sad bit of iceberg or romaine lettuce; whether it's these Virtuous Vietnamese Lettuce Wraps, or swapping the tacos in this yummy Mexican prawn recipe for something even more saintly. Thinspiration Millie Mackintosh even has a burger in hers sometimes. I had some leftover

A quick post today; these are Vietnamese lettuce wraps and they're a lifesaver for anyone trying to drop a few pounds as they are so low in fat, but still taste scrummy. I had three or four wraps and my portion came in at around 460 calories. I've done these before with pork or beef mince, but this time I used turkey as it is the lowest fatmeat known to man but high in protein. Stir fry it quickly with the tiniest bit of olive oil, then add in chopped pepper, garlic, grated c