It’s World Health Day! In the interests of adding an extra delicious vegetable to your weekly routine, we’re showing you how to cut leek. Perfect in a warming broth or silky risotto, it’s tasty, easy to like flavour makes it a great healthy addition to loads of meals.

Leek is an an Allium – the group that onions, garlic, shallots and chives belong to (the word Allium actually comes from the Greek word for garlic). Membership to the Allium club is basically down to whether you contain beneficial sulfuric compounds, otherwise known as the lovely flavour and aroma that wafts off the pan when you start anything good and savoury. Side note: a wise woman once told me that you can fool anyone into thinking you’re an amazing cook by gently frying off some onions in the next room, this woman is not only right, she should be applauded for her ingenuity.

Sometimes in modern cooking, a sense of biodiversity can be lost. Red or brown onions are used constantly, eschewing other Alliums like eschallots , scallions or leek. What a shame! Speaking of the Greeks, the Ancient Romans and Greeks understood the unique appeal of the leek. When cooked, their flavour is more delicate, sweeter than an onion, their texture more substantial. Including a vegetable like leek instead of a bog standard onion can transform a meal – suddenly the unmistakeable character of a French dish is writ large, a Colcannon is comfortably situated in the green of Ireland where it belongs.

To clean and prepare leek

1. Trim the dark green ends of the leek. These can be reserved for vegetable stock, or discarded.

2. With a sharp knife, cut the leek down its length, leaving the root end attached.

3. Gently prise apart the two halves.

4. In a sink or large bowl, rinse the layers of the leek so that any dirt is removed.

5. Chop into rings or lengthways. Ready to add a unique Allium note to your next dinner!

What Healthy choices will you be making for World Health Day? Let us know!