A year of healthy eating: Domini Kemp’s new column

January is a month where promises are made and only sometimes kept. I have been writing this column since 2008 (yikes!) and things have changed a lot for me personally over the last two years.

Last November was exactly one year from my last blast of treatment for breast cancer. It was during this time that my focus on “healthier” food started to, well, really focus. I place great store in good food’s benefits, but I am regularly frustrated about the conflicting advice I hear and the arguments that are used to distract us from what we should be doing: which is eating less food out of packets and making sure we cook at home, regularly.

Take the latest term to create a furore: detox. I hear doctors and scientist on the airwaves saying there is no such thing as “de-toxing” your body and that it’s all just marketing jumbo. But on the other hand, they agree eating better, exercising more and staying lean are generally good things to aim for. So what if we replace the word “detoxing” (which is so vehemently objected to by some) and replace it with the words “eating light” or “taking a break” instead . . . then would this argument – that sometimes feels like we’re all on the same side but just arguing about semantics – disappear?

There’s no doubt that a week of green juices and nourishing things like miso soup and salads or stews full of ingredients that are super-packed with good things can make you feel more energised, and by giving your system a real break, it gives you a chance to steer your wily ways towards better habits. There’s certainly merit in not consuming heavily processed foods and over-eating. But over the long term, it’s probably better to spread all this January virtue over time and eat more healthily generally, day to day.

So this is why my column is changing, just a little bit, to focus on “cleaner” eating. I am not a nutritionist. But I am a cook with a keen interest in nutrition and I find myself trying to eat better 90 per cent of the time. This used to be 70 per cent of the time, so it’s time that this column reflected these changes and I hope you’ll join me in cooking these dishes geared towards better, simpler, cleaner cooking.

But don’t panic – there will still be delicious stews in winter and fiery salads in summer. It’s just some of my usual flavour tricks like a pinch of sugar or a squirt of ketchup to beef up a sauce, or plenty of pasta dishes to fill hunger pangs or buttery breadcrumbs on top, aren’t going to be promoted. These recipes are less about entertaining and a lot more about what we should quietly be cooking at home. Think nourish with less flourish.

So, in tribute to all of you who have promised yourself to get healthy in the long term, however slowly, this week’s recipes exemplify the pleasures of healthy eating. Both feature chicken, and both are Asian-inspired, but that’s all they have in common. The first is a super-healthy bone broth made from the carcass of a roast chicken and the second is a hearty salad in which raw kale is gently wilted by a vibrant dressing with sesame oil and mint, and served up with sliced leftover chicken. Either is lovely as a light supper or lunch. Food cooked and styled by Domini Kemp and Gillian Fallon.