Eating raw vegetables is certainly very good for you. Water soluble vitamins like C and many of the Bs start to degrade when heated, so raw vegetables will naturally contain more of these nutrients.

However, that's not the whole story, because other nutrients become more available to us when vegetables are cooked. Cooking actually helps our bodies absorb these nutrients. This is true of many of the carotenoid antioxidants, like lycopene, found in tomatoes.  Raw tomatoes are high in vitamin C and while they contain lycopene, the antioxidant is bound up with fibre cells and locked away from us – we simply can't access a lot of it. However, once tomatoes are cooked, while the vitamin C is mostly destroyed, the lycopenebecomes up to four times more absorbable.

Moreoever some raw vegetables naturally contain a group of compounds, called anti-nutrients, which inhibit the absorption of key nutrients. Cooking breaks down these anti-nutrients. 

The best advice is to focus on eating variety. Choose a range of different vegetables and eat these in different ways. Have some vegies raw, but eat others cooked. In that way you'll ensure the best nutrition possible.

There's very little which is actually essential when it comes to kitchen equipment. All you really need is a couple of pans, a sharp knife, some cutlery, a stove and some running water. That's it. Having had problems with our fridge recently, I also know how useful a fridge is for storing ingredients and leftovers, but you can get by without one.

I don't have a lot of kitchen equipment and I particularly don't have a lot of gadgets. This is partly because my kitchen is small and there simply isn't space. But also, more and more I find myself sticking with the basics, avoiding food which needs a lot of fussing and resenting the washing up created by the use of gadgetry.

 

 

In my kitchen, aside from the items listed above, this is the equipment I use regularly, which reflects both my low tech approach and my cooking biases - especially my love of citrus and ginger.

From the left - citrus zester, ginger grater, cup measures, tablespoon and teaspoon measure, marinating / basting brush, citrus juicer.

 

However, our house has a pretty small kitchen. We have room for a fridge, there is an oven and a good sized sink. However, there's minimal bench space. In fact we only really have one work space, which isn't even wide enough to fit our chopping board.

I've found this frustrating in the past. In fact it's always been the main thing I "don't like" about our house.

However more recently I've been re-considering my attitude. I'd still love a huge, expansive, light-filled kitchen, but there's no likelihood of that happening in the immediate future. So rather than moaning, what can I change?  Here's what I've done so far.

 

 

Having little bench space forces you to carefully consider how it's used. We leave very few things out on the kitchen top. In my last house the food processor, olive oil, toaster, kettle, container of kitchen implements, salt and pepper, mortar and pestle, bills, recipes and assorted ingredients were all left out on the kitchen bench. In this house everything bar the toaster and salt pot, is put away.

 

 

I've always been someone who buys a lot of ingredients. Interesting spices, different condiments, jars of weird looking pickles, flavoured salts and sugars - I love having something new to play with. However too often, after using the new ingredient once or twice it would end up forgotten and pushed to the back of the cupboard. This is a waste even when you do have space, but in a small kitchen it's no good. So gradually, I've been using up all those bits and pieces of ingredients, freeing up more space. I still buy new ingredients, but I also make sure I use them up.

 

 

I know some people love their microwave, however, I think it's a waste of space. Yes it's useful for defrosting and reheating food, and even cooking rice, but it's a large piece of equipment, it takes up a lot of space and does nothing I can't do on the stovetop. The microwave shelf in our kitchen is now my pantry space.

 

 

I used to have all my cookery books lined up in the kitchen, ready... Read More...

I've boosted meals up by serving with salad or steamed vegetables, added toppings to make them more interesting and rotated the meals so we don't get bored. However the pattern has been one of filling the freezer, emptying it and then re-filling it with new food.

This way of preparing meals is suiting my current schedule. My partner and I are both having long days, and neither of us has the inclination to cook every night. However our weekends are clear and I'm trying to make the most of the time I do have in the kitchen to crank out a few meals at a time.

This is one way I cope with eating well during a busy period. Even though our days are long, we're still eating good food.

Eating well when you're busy takes a bit of extra effort, focus and organisation. Three things which are obviously hard to find when your schedule is full. However, if you can eat healthy meals you'll be better equipped to manage the busy period. 

And at the moment, the strategy which is working for me, is to make the most of the cooking time I do have.