Natasha Corrett is about to release her new book Honestly Healthy in a Hurry, so we caught up with to talk about the project and when her journey into more plant based eating began.
Honestly Healthy in a Hurry
Please tell us why and when you decided to become a vegetarian.
I never decided I wanted to be one it just slowly happened over about the course of a year. It was a slow process I just stopped eating meat as my body didn't want it any more. I felt better for it. I went vegan for about 5 months but I don't think it suited my body so went back to eating eggs and some cheese.
Have you always enjoyed cooking or is it something that developed a passion for after you became a veggie?
I have always been a foodie. My father owned restaurants so when I was younger I spent my summer holidays earning some extra pocket money working in the kitchens. I suppose my passion for food started at a really young age. I have always been able to cook it's just something that was a part of my upbringing. I have been cooking and delivering food to people for about 8 years now!
What can you tell us about your new book Honestly Healthy in a Hurry?
My new book is all about saving you time, money and reducing your food waste to zero. I got so many people saying to me and emailing that they wanted to be healthy but they didn't have time. They said it was too expensive cooking from scratch all the time so I wanted to create a method that would help all of us make healthy a lifestyle.
So my PREP NIGHT method of cook once eat twice was created. Just 1 hour and 15 minutes on a Sunday night Is all you need to roast up all your veg, blanch your greens, cook your grains, make some dips so that each night it only takes 15 minutes to pull a delicious meal together. In the book there is a table that shows you the raw and cooked weights of all the ingredients used in the book so that you can either follow the recipe from your prepped veg or raw and it means you can use this method for all your cook books at home.
What are the common pitfalls people make to transform vegetable dishes from being healthy to unhealthy?
Frying in lots of oil or boiling. The best way to cook veg is by roasting, blanching or stir-steaming. It helps keep the nutrients intact.
What are alkaline eating principles and why are they so good for us?
Eating alkaline is really common sense as acid forming foods are things that we know we should moderate in our daily diet like meat, sugar, processed foods, wheat, gluten, alcohol and increasing the good stuff like vegetables, grains, pulses are more alkaline and should be the majority of your diet.
Why do you think vegetarianism is gaining momentum more so than ever before?
I think that the fact that the news and media is reporting that meat has such an impact on our health and environment people are starting to listen and take action.
Please tell us about the process of putting your new book together.
When writing a book I always listen to what my followers are asking for and they all were saying the same thing; they wanted quick food that tasted amazing that also made them feel fantastic. So I came up with the title and then you start constructing the structure of the book then I start to brain storm on recipes and just get in the kitchen and start cooking! I love the whole process it's so creative and my favorite part is the book shoot as I love food styling.
You have transformed your own health eating this way- so how long did it take your taste buds to adjust to cleaner eating?
I don't think it ever took that long to adjust as clean eating doesn't mean it has to lack flavour. If it tastes like the traditional dish then you shouldn't have to adjust! I make sure that I just make the healthy alternative and I always say that if it doesn't taste like the real deal don't eat it!
You have collaborated with nutritionist Vicki Edgson- so what is your working process and how did working with her come about?
Vicki is my godmother so has been a part of my life since I was born and her knowledge has been rubbing off on me my whole life. We always said we wanted to write a book together and we did! I found out about alkaline eating and asked her to research it more and help create the nutritional concept behind Honestly Healthy 6 years ago. Now I go it alone and write the recipes.
To celebrate the launch of the book this week and as it is National Vegetarian Week, Natasha will be taking over the salad bar at Fortnum & Mason with recipes from the new book!
Tagged in Vegetarian Vegan