Win one of five organic Hemsley + Hemsley Riverford recipe boxes

Enter now to win a limited edition organic recipe box from Hemsley + Hemsley and Riverford Organic, and try their specially created range of organic meals for two.

We're giving away five limited-edition organic recipe boxes worth £39.95 each, plus a bottle of organic prosecco, courtesy of Riverford Farm and food writer sisters Jasmine and Melissa Hemsley, aka Hemsley + Hemsley.

Launching mid-January for two weeks only, this special guest chef box contains everything you need to make three healthy and hearty meals for two, including the freshest seasonal organic ingredients from Riverford Farm. 

Quinoa Goat's Cheese Beetroot Risotto with Parsley Lemon Oil

The recipes are free of gluten, grains and refined sugar, and were specially created by the sisters, who launched their first cook book, The Art of Eating Well, in summer 2014.

To find out more about Jasmine and Melissa's approach to eating, read our Q&A.

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Terms and conditions
This competition is open to Healthy Food Guide readers, registered on the website (free) and who are UK residents, aged 18 and over, excluding employees (or families of employees) of Eye to Eye Media Ltd, Riverford Organic Farms Ltd, or anyone linked to the competition. Website entry closes midnight 31st January 2015 and entries received after the closing date of the promotion will not be considered. No responsibility is taken for entries lost or delayed. The winner will be drawn at random and the judges’ decision is final. No correspondence will be entered into. The winner will be notified in writing within 28 days of the closing date. There are five prizes to be won. The winner will receive one Hemsley + Hemsley limited edition Riverford recipe box and one bottle of prosecco. In the event of developments outside its control, the promoter reserves the right to offer an alternative prize of equal or greater value. The winners may be required to participate in future publicity. The promoter’s decision is final and binding in all matters and no correspondence will be entered into. Promoter: Riverford Organic Farms Ltd, Buckfastleigh, Devon, TQ11 0JU.

Winner must live within the Riverford delivery territories (most of England and South Wales; postcodes can be checked at www.riverford.co.uk).

Q&A with the Hemsley sisters

Jasmine and Melissa Hemsley, aka Hemsley+Hemsley, are hipster food bloggers-turned authors. Here they talk to HFG about their approach to food and their new partnership with Riverford Farm. We also asked them to tell us what we’ll all be eating in 2015…

Don’t forget to enter our competition to win one of five Riverford and Hemsley recipe boxes (closes 31 January 2015).

Tell us about your cooking ethos
Our approach to healthy eating keeps things as close to nature as possible. This means we eat meat and vegetables that are organic, wild or biodynamic or come from a source that champions natural food. Our food is simple to make, delicious and nutrient rich – and it’s also grain, gluten and refined-sugar free.

How did the partnership with Riverford come about?
Our mum introduced us to Riverford about 10 years ago, even before we started our company Hemsley+Hemsley, and we’ve enjoyed their organic produce ever since. The provenance of the ingredients we use is very important, so working with Riverford’s veg-obsessed founder Guy Watson was a natural match.

What was your inspiration for the recipes?
The H+H Riverford recipe boxes are the perfect option for the health-conscious, food lover, allowing you to cook nourishing, delicious seasonal meals every night of the week, and all in an hour or less! By focusing on fresh, seasonal produce, you’re able to experiment with different ingredients, try new flavours and access nutrients from produce that is in its prime.

What swaps/alternatives/tricks did you use to make these recipes healthy?
A lot of our them are inspired by a family member or a friend, or from a client requesting that we reinvent their favourite dish to make it healthy. The beauty of these dishes is that there is no compromise on flavour, but they are better for you.

Our recipes for the boxes include a sausage ragu with celeriac spaghetti – celeriac is sliced into spaghetti instead of the starchy, refined, wheat-based pastas traditionally associated with a ragu. Our steak and kale salad is accompanied with celeriac chips and our goat’s cheese and beetroot risotto uses quinoa in place of rice. These nutritious ingredients will keep you feeling satisfied for longer while being nourishing.

How have you cut grains, refined sugar and/or gluten from your diet?More easily than you think! As well as replacing pasta with spaghetti spirals made from celeriac or courgettes, we make our own bread (we have two recipes in our book, The Art of Eating Well), have swapped regular noodles for buckwheat (gluten-free) and we also make noodles from carrots and cucumbers! You can also substitute rice with broccoli or cauliflower rice. We use whole natural ingredients like cooked beans in brownies and cakes for a lovely, rich texture.

What food trends are you expecting to see in 2015?We anticipate that 2015 is going to be a big year for the spiralizer! A secret weapon for the health-conscious cook, the Hemsley+Hemsley Spiralizer (launching this month) is useful for packing your meals with nutrient-rich vegetables. It’s also a delicious way to replace refined and glutinous foods such as pasta and noodles.

Use it to prepare some of The Art of Eating Well favourites, such as Courgetti or Celeriac Ragu, Sesame Cucumber noodle salad or Vietnamese Pho Soup.

More than anything, we hope to see people cooking even more because there’s nothing better than home-cooked food made with love.

The low-FODMAP diet

Many IBS sufferers and their practitioners swear by the elimination – under guidance – of certain carbs, known as FODMAPS (in the January issue of Healthy Food Guide, we’ve included some IBS-friendly recipes for you to try). If you want to know more about what these foods are and how to steer clear of them, read on…

FODMAPs are certain types of carbohydrates that are not absorbed in the small intestine and are instead passed into the colon. Although they are poorly absorbed by everyone, only some people get IBS symptoms when bloating, flatulence, abdominal pain and constipation occur as the natural bacteria in the colon digest the food.

These FODMAPs (Fermentable oligosaccharides, Disaccharides, Monosaccharides and polyols) tend to be found in processed foods, artificial sweeteners, wheat products, some vegetables, fruit and pulses and some dairy foods. For example, fructose (a monosaccharide) is the main type of sugar found in fruit juice, fruit and honey; lactose (a disaccharide) is the main type of sugar found in dairy products; and types of sugars called oligosaccharides are found in foods such as cereals, bread, pasta, biscuits and cakes.

How the low-FODMAP diet works 
With the help of a dietitian, over a period of eight weeks, FODMAPs are virtually eliminated. If your gut is going to respond to a low-FODMAP diet, this is the period during which IBS symptoms should lessen dramatically or disappear. You then reintroduce FODMAPs one by one – each over a period of three days. From this you can establish those that trigger IBS symptoms and those your body is able to tolerate. It may be that you can tolerate certain amounts of a certain FODMAP, which is useful to know if you’re going out for dinner, or to a friend’s house.

‘One of my clients, for example, now knows she can tolerate some gluten-containing foods occasionally without aggravating her IBS symptoms,’ says registered dietitian and IBS specialist Jennifer Low. ‘This has been useful as her husband’s family eat lots of pasta. But she also knows if she has a wheat-based cereal for breakfast, a sandwich at lunch and pasta for dinner she gets a very painful tummy.’

If you think a low-FODMAP diet may relieve your symptoms, look for a registered dietitian in your area (ask your GP to refer you or visit freelancedietitians.org), who will be able to guide you through the elimination and reintroduction process. It’s very important not to try it without guidance. ‘Many foods contain FODMAPs and you could seriously compromise your health if you try to eliminate these foods without the help of a health practitioner,’ says Jennifer.

Find out more at:
jlnutritionclinic.com
theibsnetwork.org

Which foods contain FODMAPS?

Flours and grains

Barley
Bulgur
Chickpea flour*
Couscous
Durum
Lentil flour*
Multigrain flour
Pea flour*
Rye
Semolina
Soya flour*
Wheat bran
Wheaten cornflour
Wheat flour
Wheatgerm

Cereals

Wheat-based and mixed-grain breakfast cereals
Muesli

Fruits

Apples
Nectarines
Pears
Peaches
Plums

Vegetables

Broccoli
Brussels sprouts
Cabbage
Garlic
Mushrooms
Onions

Pasta and noodles

Egg noodles
Pasta
Gnocchi

Breads, biscuits and cakes

All biscuits
Bread
Breadcrumbs
Cakes
Croissants
Crumpets
Muffins and pastries containing wheat and rye
Ready-made sourdough breads

Dairy foods and alternatives

Milk
Ice cream
Soft cheeses (in large quantities)
Yogurt

Meat, fish and eggs

Sausages and other processed meats (check for onion and dehydrated vegetable powders)

Nuts and seeds

Pistachios

Spreads, condiments and flavourings

Honey
Shop-bought chutneys
Dressings
Gravies (containing onion)
Relishes and sauces
Stock cubes

Drinks

Fruit juices made with FODMAP fruits (see above)

Fats and oils

Dairy spreads and margarine (in large quantities)


This list should be used only under the guidance of a registered dietitian specialising in IBS management.

*These contain the oligosaccharides GOS and fructans, but in small amounts as part of a recipe do not cause IBS symptoms in most people. You should assess your tolerance under the supervision of a registered dietitian.