Flatbread, guacamole and hummus Taste the benefits

NEW year, new resolutions. It started with good intentions: cut down the calories, cut down the booze, exercise more. Well, that didn’t work.

For some this month it’s all about vegan, cutting out everything. Well, that’s not going to work either. Extreme diets come and go but for most of us, before long, we return to the same old habits.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not against change, but I think small, easy changes nudge us towards better long-term habit-forming benefits.

For me, to help health, environment and budget, my 2019 aim is to cook more at home. I don’t mean complicated, restaurant recipes that need several shopping trips just to source the ingredients. I mean cooking familiar, good-value meals for sharing together.

There are plenty of benefits. Home-cooked food is invariably cheaper. There’s less waste, fewer plastic packets packed into the bin and, as you can choose the ingredients you eat, there are fewer harmful additives and hidden calories.

And as a bonus, by buzzing round the kitchen, you even exercise more!

FLAT BREAD 250g plain flour 1 teaspoon sea salt 1 tablespoon olive oil 150ml warm water Mix everything in a large bowl to make a dough.

Tip onto a lightly floured work surface and knead for a few minutes.

Roll it into a ball, cover with clingfilm and leave to rest for 15-20 minutes.

Divide into eight balls. Roll each one out thinly.

Lay each flat bread on a heated frying pan and cook for about 2 minutes until you can see a few dark spots forming on the underside. Flip over and cook for another minute or so.

Keep each bread warm in a clean tea towel until all cooked.

ADORABLE AVOCADO… GUACAMOLE TO YOU AND ME 2 ripe avocados

Bunch of fresh coriander, chopped ½ red onion, finely chopped 3 cherry tomatoes, chopped 1 lime

Sea salt Splash of Tabasco sauce Open the avocado and scoop out the flesh.

Mix it with all the chopped ingredients in a bowl and flavour with the juice and zest of the lime.

Season with sea salt and add a few drops of Tabasco to taste.

THE ONE AND ONLY – ORIGINAL HUMMUS 1 tin chick peas, rinsed and drained 1 clove garlic, peeled and chopped 1 tablespoon tahini (sesame seed paste)

Pinch of sea salt Juice of half a lemon.

Put everything in a blender and blast it to form a paste.

To spice it up, drizzle a teaspoon of harissa and a tablespoon of toasted sunflower seeds over it.