Feel Good

BY MELISSA HEMSLEY

Reviewed By Despina Mina

In 2014 I was gifted a cookbook called ‘The Art of Eating Well’, written by sisters Jasmine and Melissa Hemsley - a recipe book that encouraged cooking with unprocessed foods and introduced me to cooking with ghee, coconut oil, chia seeds and bone broth, and turned my courgettes into spaghetti with the Spiralizer. Their cookbook stayed and became a firm favourite, the Spiralizer didn’t. The sisters’ ethos gave me the tools to get creative and find new ways to cook nutritious meals and I haven’t looked back since.

Fast forward eight years and the sisters have each been successful on the food scene in their own right, but today we talk about Melissa who continues her mission to acquaint people with healthy, whole foods at a relatable level. Amongst the many projects she’s involved in, she’s a big presence in the food waste charity ‘The Felix Project’. They redistribute surplus food throughout London to charities and schools, helping the vulnerable, the homeless, people with mental health issues or those who can’t afford to buy regular, healthy food. This in turn, reduces food waste.

‘Feel Good’ is Melissa’s fifth book. Admittedly, this is my first of her solo work but it’s a corker - every page is full of colour and warmth. It’s a happy book, that’s fitting for the theme of this edition of Cibare - ‘Taste the Rainbow’. Melissa’s smiling face beaming at me on the front cover is an indication of what to expect inside - every page of ‘Feel Good’ is vibrant and fun. The flavour combinations are serious, but the vibe is light-hearted and playful.

The weekend I decided to create my ‘Feel Good’ meal was a hot and sunny one, which always makes me lean towards being meat free. I picked out the ‘Baked

Feta and Ras El Hanout Broccoli Salad’, the ‘Warm Potato and Watercress Salad with Asparagus’, ‘Roast Carrots and Fresh Beetroot with Dukkah’ a ‘Herby Bean Dip’ and the ‘Three Ingredient Chocolate Pots’.

Apart from the chocolate pots, everything was served at the same time, in the garden, under the jasmine and honeysuckle covered pergola. I’m making this sound more idyllic than it actually was, so for full disclosure add a curious and greedy little dog desperate to jump on the table and two adults taking turns to distract him with toys and chews. Maybe it was the smell of baked feta that made him so determined to see what was on offer. Fresh out of the oven, the feta softened and became slightly gooey, just enough to break up and distribute evenly onto the little broccoli florets. The only criticism we found was when the feta got cold, it went quite hard, and the salty flavour intensified so it wasn’t as enjoyable. Having a good potato salad recipe up your sleeve comes in handy on BBQ days, so I picked this dish to see if it would be a keeper. The salad leaves and herbs kept it tasting fresh and light, and the sharp flavours of the cornichons and capers cut through the yoghurt dressing. Melissa suggests that if asparagus isn’t in season, then green beans or broccoli will also work well here, but in this case, I added the asparagus as suggested. It’s safe to say there were no leftovers for lunchboxes the next day.

The roasted carrots were yet another win. Every element of this was delicious, the earthiness of raw beetroot perfectly complements the sweet roasted carrots. We used them to scoop up the creamy bean dip and the dukkah sprinkled liberally over the top adds the crunch. It’s well worth making the dukkah from scratch and it doesn’t require much effort either. You can really taste each of the dried spices, plus you can make it as fine or as chunky as you like. The recipe makes way more than you need, which has been quite handy, as I’ve used it on every salad since.

The chocolate pots were a bit of a no brainer, I was so confident they’d taste good I made extra for the next day - three simple ingredients which can all be vegan if you wish. There’s no cooking involved for this, so it’s a perfect recipe for a hot summer’s day and you can decorate it with your favourite toppings. I went with crushed nuts and fresh cherries.

I’m certain that ‘Feel Good’ will be on our weekly rotation of cookbooks for the foreseeable, I’ve earmarked quite a few pages already. So, if you see Melissa’s face smiling at you from the shelf of a bookshop or supermarket, I suggest you add it to your basket and see why her ‘Feel Good’ does what it says on the tin / book.