While there’s certainly no shortage of young, glamorous women riding the wellness wave, it’s Hemsley and Hemsley's - a.k.a Jasmine and Melissa Hemsley - food philosophy that we actually want to get on board with.
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Gloriously gluttonous foods such as meat and dairy are not only allowed but actively encouraged - if you know anything about the Hemsleys, you’ll know about their famous “bone broth” - while the "bad stuff" is replaced with tasty, often vegetable-based alternatives.
While Hemsley and Hemsley started out as private chefs, since the success of their first book The Art of Eating Well in 2014 they've been contributing to a whole host of publications including Vogue.co.uk and The Guardian, have a café in Selfridges, a Channel 4 TV show and have become famous foodies in their own right.
Here's some of what we learnt from the healthy-eating queens during our Facebook Live.
Don't ditch meat
“Meat is a type of protein that’s very available to us... the protein [in meat] is very easy for our bodies to convert, it’s very satiating - if you eat a lot of protein it can turn your appetite off - so having some protein on your plate rather than all carbohydrates will fill you up, and fat does this as well...Meat’s had a really bad rep recently, and quite rightly when we’ve moved into this age of factory farming in order to feed the world really cheaply and all kind of problems have come out of it.
So you should...
Shop at farmers' markets where possible, and always choose meat and dairy from grass-fed cows.
“Cows are fantastic converters of grass, which we can’t process, into muscle, meat, fat and milk. You can make buying meat from animals that have been fed the right way and haven’t been pumped full of chemicals by choosing the less affordable cuts. You’ll find liver, beef shin and bone broth in our books.”
Boil your bones
"Bone broth is one of the best ways to intake protein. For thousands of years, all over the world bone broth was a way of using every part of the animal... It’s a 24-hour slow simmer, just bring really good quality bones - chicken carcasses, beef bones and so on - to a simmer in a big pan of water with some apple cider vinegar... We use it wherever possible, from soups to stews to ragu... it’s a classic remedy and very easy to digest."
Get ahead
If you're short on time, always cook in big batches (Hemsley and Hemsley recommend a Sunday cook-off for those who have a busy work schedule), utilise your freezer and stay healthy by bringing a packed lunch into work. The best healthy snacks to bring in the office are roasted chickpeas (or nuts and seeds), which you can flavour with herbs, spices or salt and vinegar depending on your personal preferences.
Switch it up
Swap grains and other carbohydrates for vegetable alternatives, from cauliflower rice (which Jasmine demonstrates how to make at -22.26) to spiralised celeriac, courgette, sweet potato or other veg as a replacement for spaghetti. Make mash out of root vegetables such as suede or beetroot as a way to up your nutrient intake.
Moroccan chicken stew recipe
Ingredients (serves 4)
a large handful of flaked almonds 1 tbsp ghee 2 red onions, finely sliced 4 garlic cloves, diced a thumb-sized piece of fresh root ginger (about 40 g) – unpeeled if organic – finely grated 1 tsp ground cumin 1 tsp ground cinnamon 1/2 tsp smoked sweet paprika 4 chicken thighs, skin on 2 red peppers, deseeded and sliced into thin strips 1 large lemon, cut into 6 thick slices a handful of green olives, stones removed 250 ml bone broth 4 pitted dates or dried apricots, chopped 150 g green beans, halved a handful each of fresh coriander and parsley sea salt and black pepper Optional: a small pinch of chilli powder or 1 fresh chilli, chopped
Method
In a large, dry pan, gently toast the flaked almonds for a minute – don’t take your eyes off them as they burn easily. Set the almonds aside.
In the same pan, heat the ghee, then gently cook the onion for 8 minutes until softened. Add the garlic, ginger and spices and fry for another minute.
Add the chicken thighs and cook until coloured lightly on both sides.
Add the red pepper slices, lemon slices, olives, the broth and dates or apricots (and chilli powder or fresh chilli, if using). Simmer with the lid on for about 40 minutes until the chicken is cooked through.
If you find the sauce is too watery, take the lid off and leave it to reduce a little. If the sauce is too thick, add a few more tablespoons of water.
Add the halved green beans for the last 4 minutes cooking time.
Season to taste and top with the coriander and parsley and the toasted flaked almonds to serve.
Extracted from "The Art of Eating Well" by Melissa and Jasmine Hemsley. (Ebury Press, £25)
It's worth liking the British GQ Facebook page to make sure you always catch our Facebook Live videos. We've recently chatted with the likes of Kurupt FM and Big Narstie, Gerard Butler, rugby star Jonathan Joseph and TV presenter Kirsty Gallagher.
