• A great post from The Mindful Foodie on how to make time to cook healthy meals. As Lesh says "It's about understanding how and where you spend your time, and connecting with the benefits of healthy cooking".
   
• I do love this cartoon on paleo wine pairing.
   
• While it's aimed at the northern hemisphere spring, this Salmon and Artichokes with Dill recipe from Nigel Slater is also a perfect Southern hemisphere autumn meal.
   
• An excellent reality check from Australian dietician Catherine Saxelby Why quitting sugar guarantees you'll lose weight.
   
• A piece on urban farming and what can be grown in small spaces, on The Splendid Table website: How to feed 10,000 people from food grown on 3 acres in the city.
   
• Lovely and useful piece from A Life (Time) of Cooking on Seasonal cooking in May: wherever you are.

5 ways to use beetroot leaves

1. Larger beetroot leaves can be cooked, as you would spinach. A simple side dish I often make is to saute beetroot leaves with garlic and capers and then serving with a drizzle of olive oil, some black pepper and a good squeeze of lemon juice.
    
2. The smaller, younger leaves can be eaten raw and are perfect added to salads and lettuce mixes, adding both flavour and colour. If you want to try something special make this delicious grilled haloumi and beetroot leaf salad from Nigel Slater.
    
3. If you're making a spinach pie, add in some beetroot leaves, although be warned that it may well turn your filling slightly pink. There's a lovely looking beetroot leaf and ricotta tart by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall.
    
4. You can also beetroot leaves in Indian cooking, for example in this dal recipe. I've made this a few times and it's quite delicious, plus it freezes really well.
    
5. Martha Rose Shulman had the excellent idea of using both the beet-root and the greens, together with herbs, spices and feta, in vegetable fritters. It's a quite delicious and very pink, looking recipe.

1. Velvety Lentil Chestnut Soup: b eautiful looking soup from Chocolate & Zucchini which uses combines lentils and chestnuts with fresh thyme and bay leaves. Lovely, lovely.
    
2. Roast Onion Soup: I've made this soup from Lucy of Nourish Me on several occasions and it's delicious. Unlike the more common French style soups, this one combines the onions with lime leaves, ginger and chilli.
    
3. Green Pea Soup: A hearty and rich looking soup from 101 Cookbooks which would freeze really well. I love the idea of topping it with cubes of pan fried paneer cheese as per Heidi's suggestion.
    
4. Fennel & Pear Soup: A lighter textured soup, which looks really interesting. Fennel bulbs and fennel seeds are combined with fresh pear. The soup is finished off with cream, although I'd be tempted to use plain yoghurt.
    
5. Coconut, Pumpkin & Carrot Soup: Another hearty and delicious looking recipe. It's a bit of a "mish-mash of flavours", but I reckon it would be glorious.

Do you make soup?

 

• I always look for small, tightly closed sprouts that are heavy for their size, as these little nuggets have a sweeter, milder flavour.
   
• Brussels love cold weather, so I would never, never, never buy them in summer. While you can get them in Autumn, they're at their best in the depths of winter.
   
• Before cooking trim a small amount off the base of the sprout. Remove a couple of outer leaves, until you reach the slightly lighter coloured leaves underneath.
   
• The most important thing to remember with Brussels is don't over cook them. Over cooking brings out all the sulfur compounds, leading to a smelly, bitter tasting meal. They are much better slightly under-cooked.
   
• While sprouts are lovely when lightly steamed, don't boil them.
   
• My favourite ways of cooking Brussels is to cut them in half and then pan fry them with a bit of extra virgin olive oil and sea salt, until they are browned and crispy on the outside. A pinch of chilli flakes is a good addition, as is a squeeze of lemon juice.
   
• My second favourite way of using Brussels is to add them to curries, where the spicy, liquid sauce infiltrates and softens the sprout, creating a wonderful flavour.

What do you think about Brussels sprouts?