The lovely Nina Parker, culinary writer and author of Nina St Tropez & Nina Capri (and this week’s guest editor!) shares with us, her typical day on a plate! If you could ever be jealous of a day on a plate, it would be this one!

Breakfast

Brekkie for me totally depends on the day of the week. If I have deliveries then it is usually a banana and spelt toast or if I have a free morning at my computer then I have a delicious homemade breakfast smoothie. Smoothies are often made with a combination of almond milk, oats, almond butter, bananas, frozen raspberries, pinch of ground cinnamon or vanilla extract. I want one just thinking about it! Weekends I tend to go the whole hog and enjoy ricotta pancakes or poached eggs, smoked salmon and toasted sourdough. I am particularly fond of the ricotta hotcakes at Granger and Co.

Lunch

I spend most of my time in the kitchen so it is pretty easy for me to be healthy for lunch during the week as I can just rustle something up in seconds. I love to make fresh green salads with pulses, roast vegetables, avocado, poached eggs, seeds and nuts. I have just come up with a killer sweet corn fritter with crushed avocado, coriander, paprika, turmeric and lime that I have been making for lunch once a week. It’s delicious! I am also always shooting dishes for magazines and my instagram so I often will eat whatever recipe I was shooting after. I would say that I am mostly a vegetarian during the week and then at the weekend I am more relaxed and will have roast chicken, fish or meat. I am a firm believer that a good balance is key to being healthy.

Teatime

This is quite an important pause in my day as it means making something yummy and having a quick break from work. I have really begun to love Matcha and I like it in tea with fresh mint leaves or mixed into a cinnamon latte with almond milk. I feel like it’s comforting but also gives you a boost of energy which is better for you than coffee. I do a lot of gluten-free baking so I may be lucky and scramble for some leftovers otherwise I will probably have some fruit and nuts at this point in the day. I work quite late these days so this snack time is essential to keep me going.

Dinner

When I am cooking for myself and feeling a little lazy I tend to go for broccoli, green beans, kale with salmon fillet or tofu and a punchy tahini dressing. I live round the corner from Itsu and those takeaway boxes practically jump into my bag for my midweek dinner on my way home. I host quite a few dinner parties at my flat and I have been making my roast squash gnocchi for guests recently which is a nice, easy recipe from my new cookbook NINA Capri. They are light, fluffy and delicate and are made with a little rice flour making them gluten-free. Post dinner I may need a small piece of dark chocolate but only 70% cocoa or over will do otherwise I find it too sweet. All of the chocolate that I use in baking is from Ecuadorian coco beans and is made organically in a small factory in Leicester and the depth in flavour is incredible. I think my cakes sell due to the quality of this amazing chocolate. If you are going to have a treat, then treat yourself to the best!

Need to catch up on the rest of Nina Parker’s Guest Edit? Check out her super delicious, dairy free, Berry Frozen Yoghurt and discover how she stays fit and healthy!