What are you eating?

I love a free lunch as much as any other journalist, but when Coca Cola recently invited me to break bread with their nutritionist I was so surprised to see the words nutrition and Coca Cola in the same email that I couldn’t even think of a polite way to say no thank you... So I didn’t.

And now – in the absence of a reply - they’ve asked me again. I’m sure they’ll choose a lovely venue too – or even (as occasionally happens) invite me to name the restaurant of my choice. But, much as I love eating out, I will just have to bite the bullet and say I’m not interested.

I am, of course, assuming I know exactly what their on-board nutritionist will say. And it will be something along the lines that Coca Cola is fine “in moderation”. Blah blah blah. What else can they say? That they are trying to turn their drink into a healthier product?  That’s another possibility of course. And then, who knows, it could one day be promoted as a health drink. Just as sugary Sunny Delight was when it first made it on to our supermarket shelves in the naughty nineties.

I love meeting with nutritionists – but only when they are independent. I don’t care if they’re promoting their own book or clinic. I do care – a lot – if they have been paid to promote processed food and drink. Which brings me to the subject of today’s blog: what are you eating?

Is tonight’s supper going to be a shop bought moussaka, or a chicken that you cooked for yourself?  Processed ready meals have a lot to answer for, according to most independent nutritionists. If they’re not full of fat, they’re often packed with sugar and are now being blamed for the obesity epidemic. As Joanna Blythman (author of What to Eat, £16.99, 4th Estate) says: ‘The more processed food is, the worse it is for you. Food processing is the food industry’s way of making a profit by taking apart natural foods and reinventing them in a more lucrative form.’

Forget green lights and low calories on the label, according to Joanna any nutritional benefits (especially in commodity crops like wheat and corn) have often been stripped out – and replaced with synthetic vitamins and a load of sugar and salt... But it seems to me they also have another secret ingredient: one that tricks our brains into thinking they’re the easy way to save time and eat well.

It’s crazy! We love watching TV chefs like Jamie whip up something quick, easy and yummy... But then we go out and buy a box of food with an appetising picture on it (usually more appetising than the food itself in my experience) instead of cooking it for ourselves.

I have a great recipe for moussaka that is not difficult to follow but does take a lot of time to complete. But if I fancied moussaka and didn’t have the time to make it, the supermarket version would be no substitute. So I’ll eat something that’s quicker to cook – and usually much healthier. A slab of salmon or a spicy stir fry – with fresh vegetables and prawns or chicken strips – -- takes no longer than the time needed to cook the delicious Basmati rice to accompany it (about 10-15 minutes).  If you don’t have time to chop vegetables, Asda sells lovely fresh stir-fry veg, ready chopped, for about £1.0. Waitrose’s stir-fry packs are more pricey – and honestly not as good!

Here’s my advice: start cooking and get to know what’s good and cheap. What’s fast for your time poor days – and what’s extra delicious for the days when you have time to cook properly? When you have the time, cook big casseroles, curries, lasagnes, chillis, and moussakas, and freeze the spare portions for those busy days when you really don’t need the hassle of shopping for a yucky ready meal.

. 4 processed foods I do like:

. Hellman’s mayonnaise – I cheat and mix it with natural yogurt, mustard, lemon juice, and garlic to make a dressing that my daughters accept on a Caesar Salad. (Worth noting: the yummier the dressing, the more salad gets eaten!) *

. Alvalle Gazpacho – it is authentic, delicious and time saving. In England we rarely get tomatoes with enough flavour to make a Gazpacho like this. Wonderful for a filling and healthy low fat lunch.

. Chocolate – I buy very dark Green & Black and Lindt’s unctuous salty dark chocolate and stick to just a square or two in a day. Usually when I am on a stress high.

. Rakusen’s Matzos – with salty butter, which totally cancels out their low fat salt free status, they’re my favourite mid afternoon snack.

* My husband Steve, a chef, made a real caesar dressing last night. This involved whisking two egg yolks with a guessed and very large amount of oil. That's the bit that brings me out in hives because I am still haunted by the cringeful memory of the mayonnaise I made when I was 18 - for guests of my parents. When one of them peered at my split mess, and remarked, "I've never seen mayonnaise like that before", I boldly replied: "that's because this one is Viennese mayonnaise!" I am sure I'd still split any mayo I attempted today - and the remedy for this is, according to Steve, to start again with another whisked egg yolk to which you slowly and patiently add in the split mess, drip by gooey drip. It sounds agonizing doesn't it? Anyway, there was none of that with Steve's mayo base, and he then added lemon juice, parmesan and salt. Oh yes and a sprinkling of Cayenne for a bit of punch. We used it to dress romaine with sliced avocadoes, poached chicken breasts (sliced), and salty anchovies and it was yummilicious!