Jasmine Hemsley - Good + Simple

DEDICATED TO DAD

Food should be good for you, it should be delicious and nutritious, and it should be simple and sustainable.

We started our family business with good food and good health at its heart. Our aim was to coach people away from fad diets and unhealthy eating towards an appreciation of the power of real food, properly sourced and correctly prepared. Our clients felt happier, healthier and more energised and couldnt believe how easy it was to adopt the Hemsley + Hemsley principles for better living. Eating well is one of the most important ways to keep in good health and it is also one of lifes pleasures. Working out how to combine the two culminated in our first book, The Art of Eating Well.

In Good + Simple we want to show that healthy eating doesnt have to be complicated: eat good food and good things will result. If the food you eat is delicious and simple to prepare, then you can maintain a healthy diet without difficulty. To prove this, weve developed over 140 recipes for their great taste, ease and versatility, stripping back our principles to make eating well even simpler. Weve created dishes that are packed with flavour, work for us every day, are straightforward and quick to make and use ingredients that are readily available.

We take a holistic approach towards well-being, because for us its not just about healthy eating. Food should be good for you but it should also taste good, make you and your family feel good, be good for the environment and your pocket. Food culture today is complicated by too much choice and too many fake foods: rows of highly refined packaged products flanked by adverts for the latest fad diet or quick fixes for weight loss approaches that rarely work in the long term. Knowing how best to feed yourself is a skill for life and means that youll be healthier, more contented and better prepared to take on the ups and downs of daily life, and youll be setting an inspiring example to those around you too. Anyone can be a good home cook and nothing beats delicious, nourishing home-cooked food made with love.

Weve been developing and growing the H+H way of eating for over ten years, through research, study and self-practice. Its been six years since we turned this knowledge and passion for good food into a bespoke service to help people improve the way they eat, enjoy their food and understand why digestive health is so important.

We believe in back-to-basics nutrition. Avoiding processed, refined or sugary foods, we instead enjoy a wide array of vegetables, as well as good-quality meat, fish, legumes and pseudocereals. Here youll find easy and delicious recipes for everyone, whether you eat meat, are vegetarian, vegan or on a Paleo, primal or raw-food diet, and for those with allergies or intolerances we suggest alternatives to nuts, dairy and eggs where possible (see ).

Our motto is Good food, good mood, good digestion, good health! and we are always telling our clients to get with your gut because gut health translates to overall health. Our secret weapons for nourishing the gut are bone broth a frugal and time-honoured food thats packed with protein, vitamins, minerals, collagen and keratin and probiotics that we culture cheaply and easily ourselves, such as sauerkraut and other condiments. Combine this with our principles of low-stress and low-chemical living, chewing well and basic food combining and you have a recipe for optimum digestive health.

Using natural fats (including animal fats), being thoughtful about the ingredients you buy and keeping even natural sweeteners (including fruit and raw honey) to a minimum are other key principles of the H+H philosophy. Most importantly, our approach has to work for you it has to be practical in the kitchen, fit with your schedule and, of course, make you look and feel your very best.

FAST FOOD THATS GOOD FOR YOU

What are our go-to recipes when weve had a day of it? Running our business means we have no set routine. We dont get to eat the food we make for other people(!), so, just like everyone else, we have to put some effort into planning ahead. In this book, we share the recipes that we return to time and again, from our old faithful standbys soups and stews to quick 10-minute suppers, as well as the easiest snacks for food on the go.

For those who dont really enjoy vegetables, or struggle to eat enough of them, we say: Soup! Stew! Spiralize! The three Ss are our way of packing plenty of nutrient-dense and refreshing veggies into meals. They are an easy and affordable way to feed friends and family with real wholefoods from one day to the next, with leftovers for tomorrows packed lunch.

There is a misconception that healthy food is boring: it is anything but! Even when keeping things simple, we use different flavours and textures to make a recipe interesting. We love to try out local dishes on our travels, experimenting with new ingredients and traditional techniques, and have fun in the kitchen reinventing culinary classics from pasta and pizza to cakes and sandwiches using wholefood alternatives.

Our clients and readers also like to challenge us to recreate their favourite takeaways or childhood meals. Our advice is to combine variety with a fuss-free kitchen routine and a methodical approach to cooking to keep it enjoyable and never a chore, especially when life is busy enough anyway.

Only a few generations ago, meals conformed to more of a weekly schedule and nothing went to waste: roast chicken on a Sunday, leftovers on a Monday and a pot of nutritious bone broth for making other dishes later in the week. This made preparing food easier and more economical: you know what to shop for no need to dig deep for inspiration after a full day at work. These days were spoilt for choice, but getting back into a way of eating that looks ahead and uses food economically from the fridge and store cupboard will help you plan and eat well every day.

With this in mind, we have put together some mouth-watering and simple weekly menus, including shopping lists, to help you plan ahead so that youre always prepared when hunger strikes (see ). Youll find a section on our favourite ingredients and useful kitchen equipment, tips on how to stock your kitchen, and how to make our philosophy work in a variety of situations, from work lunches and late-night suppers, to on-the-go snacks and packing food to travel.

Planning ahead neednt be a chore either; its empowering and makes life easier and more enjoyable in the long run. And of course, if plans change, dip into your freezer our freezer is our best friend! Eating well every day does not mean having to cook every day.