Fake out your family with these healthy dishes

Preheat the over to 495°F. Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil, add your new potatoes and cook for 10 to 12 minutes until they are nearly done. Add all your beans to the pan and cook for another 4 minutes. Then drain the potatoes and beans in a colander. Put them into an appropriately sized roasting pan and add your peas, the butter, a little drizzle of olive oil and the zest and juice of the lemons. Season lightly with salt and freshly ground black pepper and toss together while still warm so the flavors are absorbed.

Chop up half the herbs and add to the pan. Score your salmon fillets lightly on the skin side. Rub each fillet with salt, freshly ground black pepper and a little olive oil, and stuff the scores with the remaining herbs. Put into the preheated oven and cook for about 10 to 15 minutes until the salmon is just cooked (don’t overcook it) and the veggies are soft. Serve at the table, giving everyone some veggies and potatoes, a nice piece of salmon and some of the lovely cooking juices from the bottom of the pan which are like a ready-made sauce.

Preheat your oven to 350°F. Season your chicken pieces all over and put them into a snug-fitting pan in one layer. Throw in all the basil leaves and stalks, then chuck in your tomatoes. Scatter the garlic cloves into the pan with the chopped chili and drizzle over some olive oil. Mix around a bit, pushing the tomatoes underneath. Place in the oven for 1-1/2 hours, turning the tomatoes halfway through, until the chicken skin is crisp and the meat falls off the bone. If you fancy, you can add some drained cannellini beans or some sliced new potatoes to the pan and cook them with the chicken. Or you can serve the chicken with some simple mashed potatoes. Squeeze the garlic out of the skins before serving. You could even make it part of a pasta dish — remove the chicken meat from the bone and shred it, then toss into a bowl of linguini or spaghetti and serve at once.

You will need a large casserole or stock pot to fit your chicken in, so that you can cover it with water by about 1 inch. Stuff the chicken with the parsley and bay leaves, then add your chicken to the pot, cover with water and add a good teaspoon of salt. Scatter in the potatoes, bring to the boil, then turn down, place a lid on top and simmer for about 20 minutes. At this point, you can add your baby carrots, turnips or radishes and fennel. Carry on simmering for 30 to 40 minutes.

When you can easily pull the leg bone away from the chicken, you know that it’s cooked to perfection. By that time the vegetables will certainly be cooked, but don’t break them up. Now ... while this is all cooking, you can prepare your horseradish cream — the most joyous thing to have with the chicken. In your supermarket you will be able to find creamed or hot grated horseradish in a jar, which is OK to use, but if you’re really lucky you’ll be able to get hold of some fresh horseradish which you can simply peel and grate, season with salt and mix with the crème fraîche. (I’m lucky because my local supermarket sells fresh horseradish — just ask at yours if there is none in stock.)

All you have to do now is carefully remove the chicken to a bowl and add the peas, fava beans and spinach to the broth. Allow them to cook for one minute, then season carefully to taste. You can get all your guests to help themselves if that’s easier, but if you want to serve it up, divide a nice mixture of vegetables between 4 bowls, put some shredded chicken on top, then ladle over some of the wonderful, comforting broth. Sprinkle over some of the chopped reserved fennel tops or some celery leaves, with a healthy dollop of horseradish crème fraîche on top and a drizzle of nice peppery olive oil — it will look and taste brilliant.