James Martin and the BBC produced a fantastic series about hospital food in the beginning of September 2023.
I didn’t manage to see all of the daily offerings, however clearly many people did as the programme promoted a great deal of interest on this site alone.
What is interesting is that every single inquiry I received via email and comments were for the exactly the same recipe; apple and cauliflower soup. As a result I approached both James Martin’s agent and the BBC asking when and where it would be made available. Unfortunately I drew a blank. As a result I made my own, which I must say tasted pretty good.
However what really intrigued me is that although there must have been lots of different meals shown and discussed, it was this soup with a combination of both fruit and veg that got the nation salivating and asking for the recipe.
What was it specifically that grabbed viewers attention? Does this mean that the healthy eating message is making an impact? I choose to believe it is and I am very heartened by this.
Clearly James showed that a simple combination of everyday ingredients can be made into something delicious. My recipe took around 10 minutes to prepare and 10 – 15 minutes to cook and blend. The soup has gentle, fresh, slightly zingy (from the apples) flavour and the cauliflower is sitting quietly in the background. I used some fresh sage which gives it a savoury edge removing any desire to add custard rather that salt and pepper to it!
I love it when a programme that enters into so many lives, really makes an impact. I said in my earlier blog that it was a waste not to share the food ideas with patients, which would ensure that they learnt how to make good healthy food at home.
Clearly, there is a hunger (excuse the pun!) for information about how incorporate healthy eating into our daily lives using simple recipes and common foods freely availble.
Well, that’s great!
It makes my job even more worthwhile than it is already. After all, my mission is show how simple and wonderful healthy eating is.