What ingredient makes any dish better?

If we’re talking savoury, then it’s got to be garlic. I do a lot of veggie dishes – pasta sauces, chilli, curry, whatever – and as far as I’m concerned, the more cloves the better! If we’re talking sweet, well I’m a massive chocoholic so it has to be chocolate for obvious reasons. But overall – this sounds so basic – but salt works wonders with everything. It really brings out the flavours in sweet as well as savoury recipes, too. It’s pretty special.

What's your favourite comfort food?

For me, it’s anything with peanut butter, but particularly freshly baked bread with peanut butter – that’s all I need. I have four kids – they’re aged seven, five, three and nine months – and the first thing I’ve eaten after every single one was born was bread and peanut butter. I don’t get how people can hate peanut butter. For me, I go for crunchy rather than smooth because it’s all about textures. My favourite brand has got to be Manilife – it’s really good. Growing up we used to buy big tubs of Skippy from CostCo. That’s like dirty peanut butter (but in a good way!).

What's your number one cooking hack?

With four kids, I find there’s a lot of half-eaten food around my house – there are bits of apple and banana that turn up everywhere! So I gather up whatever I find and put them into reusable freezer bags and pop them in the freezer. I’m a big fan of prepping stuff for the family and my kids are big fans of smoothies so it’s a win- win. There’s less wastage and the prep has already been done. You just take it out of the freezer and chuck it in the blender.

Eating in or eating out?

At the moment, eating out can be a little bit stressful. Eating in is a much more chilled atmosphere, the kids don’t have to sit at the table the whole time, they can sit and play – whatever. But we recently went to Cape Town on holiday and everywhere over there is set up for families; there are playgrounds in every restaurant. We were thinking, why are we spending so long in restaurants, sometimes up to two hours? Normally we’d be there for half an hour, in and out. The kids were just so happy playing, they’d come back for a bit of food then they’d be off again for another play – it was brilliant. So back here in England, yes, I’m a ‘dining-in’ kind of girl, but having said that, when the summertime comes, nothing beats a good picnic.

What's your food-related guilty pleasure?

Chocolate. I just love it. I come from a long line of chocoholics! My dad is a huge chocoholic as was my grandpa, his dad. I remember going to my grandparents’ house as kids and there would be a tin stuffed with big bars of Dairy Milk and stuff like that. I’m just the same. We all just love chocolate. My favourite? I eat plant-based food so there are two brands that I’d go for, and I can’t choose between them. One is called Raw Halo and the other is an American brand called Hu Kitchen – both are really good.

If you could only eat one type of cuisine for the rest of your life, what would it be?

This is such a tough one, but I think I’m going to go for Middle Eastern food. Asian foods have so many umami flavours that it is tempting, I must admit, but with Middle Eastern cuisine there are big bowls of hummus, fluffy pitta, roasted cauliflower, aubergine – baba ganoush! – all that stuff. Oh, it’s so good. And if you’re a meat eater, there are all the chicken and lamb kebabs. My husband and I both eat a plant-based diet, but I cook everything for the kids at home. I don’t want to limit them in their choices; I’d rather they have a good relationship with food and then they can try everything and make their own decisions when they’re old enough.

Who are your ultimate dinner party guests?

I’m thinking I would have both Barack and Michelle Obama. I find them both really interesting and inspiring and they’re pretty cool people. Anyone from the cast of Succession would be very welcome but I’d probably pick Kieran Culkin. He’s an amazing actor and so funny. And then I’d have Ryan Gosling because I couldn’t not have Ryan Gosling and he may even sing with my next guest because I would like to invite Ella Fitzgerald. And then I was a bit stuck and then I thought, well why don’t I just invite Beyoncé because she’s amazing and there would be a lot of good music and I think she’d get on well with Ella.

What would you serve them?

I’d loosen everyone up with a few frozen margaritas, and then to start I’d go for a huge sharing platter of nachos – everyone could just dig in, it’s nice and easy and not too formal. So then for main, we’re having my husband’s roast dinner. My husband makes the world’s best roast potatoes – they are amazing. I have no idea what his secret is. I keep trying to get him to do a little Insta post of him cooking his roasties but he won’t have it – he thinks his friends will all laugh at him! I know he heats up the oil first – extra virgin olive oil – and there’s a lot of fluffing with the potatoes once they’ve been par-boiled. They come out so crispy and crunchy and delicious. I don’t love a nut roast – I find them really stodgy – so I’d probably do chicken for the guests and something like a big roast stuffed butternut squash as an alternative. And all the trimmings – parsnips, carrots, broccoli, gravy, stuffing – the works. Dessert would be a chocolate platter. Because desserts are my thing, but a lot of them are chocolatey, so I’d do a big selection of all my highlights to see if I could get them hooked on my chocolate recipes.

What's not allowed in your kitchen?

Footballs! My son is a very good shot, and if he wants to hit a target, I guarantee he will get it. The number of times I’ve been cooking and been hit in the back of the head with a football or it’s landed in the sink and splashed water everywhere, or he’s knocked something over and created havoc. So my number one rule is, no footballs in the kitchen. I’ve got two boys – my two middle kids – and they’re either best friends or fighting. They’re only five and three so I’m sure the worst is yet to come but for now, footballs are definitely banned in my kitchen.

What food tastes like home?

Apple pie. My mum would make it when I was growing up. We’d have family dinner on a Friday night with my grandparents and we’d often have an apple pie. Sometimes my husband will make it as well because he’s a big fan too. After a roast, he’ll often make the apple pie although I’m normally so full up by then but I can’t say no to it. We normally serve it with vanilla ice cream – there are a few nice vegan ice-creams out there – but I’m not a huge ice cream person. For me, it’s all about the pies and brownies – ice cream is more of a side than the main event – but my kids are obsessed with the stuff!