Home cooking is my secret -- staying out of restaurants means less meat, less fat, and a whole lot less salt and sugar. Not to speak of the money you save.

Minestrone is one of my favourite dishes. A pound of white beans, a bunch of kale, three or four rashers of double-smoked bacon. Boil and drain the beans, shred the kale. Cut the bacon into lardons and fry them up in the bottom of the soup kettle; as the fat renders out, add minced garlic, a chopped onion, a chopped carrot, and a couple of stalks of celery, chopped. Stir it all around in the bacon fat. Add the cooked beans with about half a tin of diced Italian tomatoes and about a litre and a half of good strong stock. Bring to a boil and cook until the carrot bits are tender. Add the shredded kale with some thyme and ground black pepper. When the kale is cooked (not long), add a fistful of basil leaves, chopped. Taste the broth and add salt if necessary.

This recipe makes up to four litres of stew, which I freeze in one-litre containers that each provide lunch for both of us, with (whole-meal, home-made) bread and cheese and an apple or pear for after.