gluten-free

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.

This ginger cake is absolutely divine. The combination of fresh ginger, dried ginger and the crystallised ginger creates a very warming and spicy cake, perfect for all ginger fans. I’ve used a special combination of gluten-free flours: potato starch, buckwheat flour, brown-rice flour and almond meal. That creates a really light and fluffy cake that doesn’t taste or look gluten-free at all. You’ll be able to buy these flours at your local health food store or a bulk food store.

These bliss balls are the perfect sweet treat and the spices add a lovely warm and heated flavour. These would also be delicious with some dried ginger powder to create a ginger-nut flavour.

Beetroot may seem like an unusual ingredient in these brownies but it adds a lovely sweetness to the brownies as well as keeping them really moist. Trust me when I say you definitely can’t taste the beetroot in this brownie!

Seasonal fruits cooked in spice are a favourite in our home and this recipe is on high rotation throughout the winter months. Adding a fat such as coconut oil as well as cinnamon to the apples not only gives delicious flavour but slows the release of sugar from the fruit into the bloodstream and helps to keep your energy levels balanced.

This cake is a nourishing take on the more traditional fruity and chocolate cake recipes we all know and love. I’ve swapped grain-based flours for nutrient dense almonds and made the cake deliciously rich with dark chocolate and seasonal winter pears.

My Dutch background means I love croquettes — soft, tasty and often cheesy on the inside and crunchy on the outside. Normally, croquettes are not the healthiest option but I’ve put a healthy twist on these that makes them perfect to enjoy for an evening meal. Feel free to replace the free-range ham with any other cooked protein such as leftover shredded chicken or smoked salmon.

A traditional Dutch apple tart, or appeltaart as they say in Holland, is absolutely delicious and surprisingly easy to make. The pastry is thicker than any other pastry shell, which means the finished tart is crunchy on the outside but soft and cake-like on the inside.