October, my favourite month. It’s a chance to indulge your inner child by crunching through fallen leaves on your walk to work and carving pumpkins for Halloween (interesting we have a particularly orangey sky in the UK today) somewhat of a tradition in my household. Now is also the time when I ...

Native to the Mediterranean region and one of the most commonly found herbs on the spice rack, Rosemary is probably one of the most popular herbs on the planet. It has a welcoming, homely aroma and provides a lovely, subtle taste to almost any dish. But, did you know that it can also be used to ...

Commonly believed to be a grain and prepared and eaten like one, quinoa or 'Chenopodium quinoa', is in fact a seed botanically speaking and is a relative of spinach and chard. The plant is indigenous to South America, originating in the mountainous area surrounding Lake Titicaca in Peru and Bolivia ...

Carrots are one of the more abundantly grown and commonly used staple vegetables that can be found on the shelf of pretty much every grocery store on the planet, but how much do we really know about this reliable root? The carrot as we know it today is orange in colour, but back in the 10th century ...

Edamame beans are young, immature soybeans (also known as 'Glycine max') that are harvested prior to the bean's natural hardening process. These beans have a green colour differing from the soybean's light brown. The bean is believed to have been domesticated from its wild relative, 'Glycine soja', ...

When we are trying to lose weight, get leaner and manage our blood sugar levels, carbohydrates can unfortunately often be referred to as the ‘culprit of weight, unwanted fat gain and fluctuating energy levels'. With that being said, like fats, all carbohydrates are not created equal! Now enter a ...

This historically popular seed, anise, also known as aniseed and anise seed, is the true anise, Pimpinella anisum, which is not to be confused with the unrelated star anise. The plant is native to Asia, particularly China (news has come to light about the Japanese sources being potentially toxic, ...

The modern day celery that we all know, originally formed from a wild celery that was native to the Mediterranean, where the seeds were used for their medicinal properties.  The earliest mention of celery leaves dates back to the ninth century where it made an appearance in the Odyssey, by the ...

See that weighty sphere of yellow fruit perched on the shelves -do you often walk past it when you do your weekly shop? If the answer is yes, then halt your trolley! Galia melons (see our previous article on watermelon) are full of so many nurturing goodies and go great with trifles, smoothies and ...

Did you know that there are around 60 different types of basil? Also known as 'Tulsi' or 'holy basil', it's a very fragrant plant, used as a seasoning herb for numerous dishes as well as being widely known as the main ingredient for pesto sauce. Basil leaves are used to improve the flavour of ...