Hemsley and Hemsley: The Art of Eating Well: Favourite Cookbooks

Behind every good cook is a bookshelf filled with recipe books from which they seek advice, instruction and inspiration to influence their own cooking. Far from being an amazing cook, my recipe books serve to teach and instruct me in the kitchen. I tend to buy all of my cook books from other people's recommendations and so I thought it would be interesting to talk a little bit about my current favourite: Hemsley + Hemsley's The Art of Eating Well. This book is the brainchild of Jasmine and Melissa Hemsley - sisters with backgrounds in modelling and fashion before venturing into the world of food and nutrition in 2010 with the launch of their 'bespoke food service' HEMSLEY + HEMSLEY.

Since receiving The Art of Eating Well as a birthday gift last year, I've found myself flicking through its pages at least once a week. The pictures are enough to make you drool and all of the recipes I've tried have been huge successes - particularly with the coeliacs in my household because everything is completely gluten free, without any compromise on flavour or texture.

The Hemsley sisters' whole ethos is around eating as naturally as possible, and getting the best out of basic but wholesome ingredients. One of the key messages portrayed in their book is the importance of going back to basics, leaving artificial and processed foods behind; thus making digestion and nutrient absorption a whole lot easier for our bodies. This really struck a cord with me as I've always been surrounded by home cooking with my mum almost always cooking from scratch when I was growing up. I've also, over the past two years, been making a conscious effort to eliminate as many unnatural, processed foods from my diet as possible - although being a student, this doesn't always happen as much as I would perhaps like it to. Despite this, I think a step in the right direction is better than none at all and the Hemsley book has recently been my saving grace in terms of healthy meal inspiration.

Here's a few pictures of some of my favourite dishes I've made from the book...

 Malaysian Lentil and Courgette Curry

 Sri Lankan Lamb Curry

Muffin Frittatas (pictured here with sauteed cherry tomatoes, smashed avocado and spring onions)

Courgetti Ragu

Black Bean Brownies

Since receiving it in April, The Art of Eating Well has quickly become my go to recipe book and so when I read that the Hemsley sisters are going to be releasing a second book I was super excited. I can't begin to recommend this book enough for anyone wanting to eat nutritious and nourishing food that is as delicious as it is healthy. I would say that some of these recipes can be a little bit time consuming but some of the dishes that need longer to cook could easily be prepared the night before and then left to simmer in a slow cooker all day. I also find making batches and then freezing portions works really well, then it's ready whenever you're in need of a quick dinner.

Despite the recipes not being the quickest to make, the end results are certainly worth the wait and everything I've made so far has really delivered on flavour. I'd also highly recommend checking out some of the free recipes available on the Hemsley sisters' website if you're looking for some meal inspiration but don't fancy buying the book.

Thanks for reading!