Sally Bee - The Secret Ingredient - Delicious,easy recipes which might just save your life

Promise yourself you’ll live actively for three months. If you can honestly say after that trial period that you don’t feel 100 per cent better, then quit. But you will feel better, and you won’t quit.

The Secret Ingredient. Try it, you’ll like it - I promise!

everyday

Great as a starter with some toasted wholemeal (whole-wheat) pitta bread or vegetable sticks.

serves 4

2 small garlic cloves, peeled and roughly chopped

1 mild red chilli, deseeded and roughly chopped

400g/14oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

4 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

handful fresh flat-leaf parsley or coriander (cilantro), roughly chopped

juice of ½ lemon

freshly ground black pepper

1 Put the garlic, chilli, chickpeas and 1–2 tablespoons olive oil in a food processor and whiz until completely smooth - this may take several minutes. Add the herbs and a squeeze of lemon juice and whiz again until well blended. Taste and add more lemon juice and olive oil, as needed, plus some black pepper.

2 Spoon into a serving bowl and drizzle over a little more oil, then cover and chill in the fridge until ready to serve.

everyday

For a delicious starter, load this tasty tapenade onto small slices of wholemeal (whole-wheat) toast for a flavour explosion!

1 Put all the ingredients into a food processor, or use a hand blender and a large bowl. Whiz until you have a coarse paste.

2 Taste to check the balance of flavours and add a little extra lemon juice if needed.

3 Serve on small pieces of toasted wholemeal bread.

serves 6

150g/5½oz/scant 1 cup pitted black olives

3 sardine fillets (canned, in tomato sauce)

3 tbsp capers (in brine, rinsed and drained)

2 tsp dried rosemary

1 heaped tsp fennel seeds

zest of 1 lemon

squeeze of fresh lemon juice

2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

freshly ground black pepper

I’m going to share with you my most precious tool for maintaining good health and happiness: the five ‘F’s. Family. Food. Fitness. Finance. Future.Pay attention to these and your life will change! It’s just a way of altering your thinking - of paying attention to the simple but important things in life, and it works for me.

Familyis the most important element, I would imagine, in everyone’s life. And the older you get, the more precious your family becomes, especially if along the way you have lost a close family member. We can all show our family how much we care by feeding them well and by nourishing them with healthy food.As a mother, I know that my happiest moments in the day are when my children eat a lovely meal that I’ve cooked for them and they leave the table glowing, eyes sparkling and full of energy! So, by caring for a family through food, you are enabling fitness.Kids have good energy to play, adults have good energy to work, play sports and make the most of life. When we have good fitness, we also have the energy to take care of our finances.We are more efficient, we can work until the job gets done and be satisfied we have achieved our best, financially. And this in turn leads to a better future- physically, emotionally and financially.

When you are planning your ‘five a day’, try to think about a rainbow. The more colours you can incorporate into your diet, the healthier you’ll be.

If you are not aware of the need to eat five fruit and vegetable portions, it’s easy to eat only two or three portions day. The most important thing is to count and rotate your foods throughout the week. Eating a rainbow of colours is the best way to ensure that you are getting your full quota of nutrients. It’s the phytochemicals that give fruit their colour, so if you eat lots of different-coloured fruit and vegetables, you get a whole range of benefits.

RED:tomatoes and watermelon contain the essential nutrient lycopene.

ORANGE:mangoes and oranges contain plenty of vitamin C, and carrots and sweet potatoes are rich in beta-carotene.

YELLOW:sweetcorn (corn), pineapples and yellow (bell) peppers contain lutein (a form of antioxidant), and bananas provide potassium, which helps to prevent heart rhythm irregularities.

GREEN:broccoli, cabbage, Brussels sprouts and watercress contain folic acid, which helps to maintain healthy arteries.

BLUE:blueberries, blackberries and prunes are full of healthy vitamins and anthocyanin, which helps circulation.

INDIGO AND VIOLET:beetroot (beet), aubergines (eggplants), plums and red cabbage all contain powerful antioxidants.

Research shows that people who have a diet high in antioxidants tend to have a lower risk of heart disease and cancer compared to people whose diets lack these vital nutrients.

* when served without the ice-cream, and feel free to omit the sugar

everyday

Ideally you’ll need a grill pan for this dish, or a George Foreman-style grill.

serves 4

olive oil, to brush the griddle pan

1 large aubergine (eggplant), sliced lengthways

2 large courgettes (zucchini), sliced lengthways

8 spring onions (scallions), blanched in boiling water for 2 minutes

1 red and 1 yellow (bell) pepper, roasted, skinned, deseeded and cut into quarters

12 asparagus spears

for the grilled vegetable marinade:

1 shallot, peeled and diced

1 red chilli, deseeded and finely diced

2 garlic cloves, peeled and diced

8 basil leaves, torn

2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

1 tbsp sherry vinegar

1 Set a non-stick ridged griddle pan over a high heat and brush lightly with olive oil.

2 Cook all the vegetables for 2–3 minutes on each side until nicely chargrilled (charbroiled), then remove from the heat.

3 In a large bowl, combine all the marinade ingredients and add the cooked vegetables, gently stirring and coating them in the marinade. Leave, covered, in the fridge to marinate thoroughly - overnight if possible - and serve the next day at room temperature. Don’t worry if making this is a last-minute decision and you don’t have time to marinate overnight. Just let the flavours infuse for as long as you can.

everyday

This makes a great accompaniment to any dish. But I love it on its own, sneaking a nibble as I’m passing the refrigerator!

1 Wash the cabbage, carrots and apple.

2 Shred the cabbage and apple and grate the carrots. Don’t even think about getting a machine to do this for you - it’s great exercise for those arms! Put into a colourful bowl, then add all the other ingredients. Mix up well, having a little taste as you go.

3 Garnish with the chopped chervil or parsley and serve.

My recipes are very low salt. If you’re missing salt, try a squeeze of lemon instead for that extra zing.

serves 10

½ small white cabbage

2 carrots

1 small green apple