Hugh’s wholesome & hearty recipes

Bangers and mash, macaroni cheese, roast chicken dinner, hot buttered crumpets, steamed sponge with custard… I’m betting that some of these (perhaps all of them) make your tummy rumble and your mouth water.

But perhaps they also make your heart sink a bit, as you contemplate the ‘not so good for you’ reputation of such lavish food. There’s a general perception that the food we crave and love is one thing, while the food that’s actually good for us is another, and never the twain shall meet. I promise you, it doesn’t have to be that way.

I have produced my fair share of rib-sticking comfort recipes down the years. More recently, I have been giving a lot of attention to the foods, and combinations of ingredients, that help to keep us well. And far from thinking that these approaches run on parallel tracks, I’m convinced they can, and should, happily come together. And so I’m setting out to show you how our most beloved dishes – including those I’ve just mentioned – can be gently tweaked to be not only wholeheartedly delicious, but also wonderfully nutritious. What food doesn’t need to be to comfort us is heavy, cloying, too rich or too sweet. You should feel good after you have eaten it, not comatose. And that is so often to do with balance. Underpinning it all is my exhortation