Get these ten easy-wins towards your ten-a-day…

We all find it hard to include enough fruit and veg in our diets to hit that ten-portions-a-day target. When each portion measures out at 80g each (30g for dried fruits), we may feel that ten lots of that is a lot to eat, it might also look a bit daunting expense-wise and let’s try not to think about the calories!

There are a few rules to try to abide by too: only one portion of each type of fruit and veg can count towards the ten, so grilled tomatoes for breakfast, tomato soup for lunch and tomato salad for dinner only count as one; you can also only include one type of pulse, meaning that the lentils and kidney beans included in my magnificently meat-free chilli, only count as one serving; only one fruit juice can be numbered in the ten and sugar content needs to be watched — especially for those with health issues, For the latter reason we particularly need to avoid added sugars and make sure that most fruits are eaten whole — rather than pureed or made into smoothies — and perhaps eaten with other foods to slow down sugar absorption.

Slightly more positive news: the fruit and veg can be eaten in any form: fresh; frozen; tinned; dried; juiced; mashed; fried; steamed; microwaved — whatever!

As to the expense: I’m going to cost this out, using rough and ready figures from a supermarket web-site. It may be that cheaper options are available and, if people haven’t got access to a local supermarket and travel has to be taken into account, it may cost more in cash-terms and time. Readers can make their own judgment about whether this is affordable to them.

1. Start the day well, with a glass of fruit juice — 150ml of any fruit juice counts as one portion. Ideally choose pure juice and not ‘fruit juice drinks’ as they will most likely have added sugar; better still, take and eat the whole fruit or puree it to a smoothie. Eat a good breakfast, with porridge, a high fibre cereal or wholemeal bread with your juice to slow down your sugar absorption. Approximate cost: 14p per 150ml portion.
2. Easy Win with a Healthy Handful — what could be easier (and tastier) than a handful of dried fruit. With dried fruit, only 30g is needed to make up a portion — that’s a small handful of raisins, five prunes or apricots or two figs. There are sneaky, if more expensive ways of popping these in your diet: fruit bars like Nak’d or Raw contain nigh on one portion; fruit n fibre or granola cereals will almost get you there and there are healthy fruit and nut mixes too. Watch out for the extra sugar intake involved; the NHS recommends not eating these between meals for weight gain and dental issues… you’ve been warned!
   Approximate cost: 11p per portion (raisins).
3. Up your Apples and Pears — grab one of these to eat on the go or pop it in your lunch box. To jazz it up a bit, cut your apple into slices or chop up and mix with a handful of grapes, then serve with a little natural yoghurt for dipping (btw I always wash but never peel apples and pears — up to you). For a delicious dessert, cut the fruit in half and drizzle with maple syrup — bake in the oven for 30 minutes, sprinkled with walnuts if you fancy — or try this superb apple bake from Delia.
   Approximate cost: 13–30p per portion (apple only).
4. Beanz meanz … one of your ten a day — your ten a day can include one portion of pulses. Remember portions can come in many forms so even haricot beans baked mercilessly and dumped in a can with a sweet tomato sauce are allowed. Furthermore, all varieties and all flavours — even Peri Peri Beanz for goodness sake- can count. Why not chop up a good-sized tomato alongside your beans on toast to double your portion hit? Other varieties and pulses are available — try my five-a-day-curry recipe with chickpeas or this brilliantly simple dhal (lentils) from Meera Sodha. Approximate cost: 21p per portion (baked beans)
5. Canned can count — the curry and dhal recipes, along with my Mediterranean Winter Warmer call for tomatoes and using tinned is perfectly fine, as far as getting your ten a day is concerned. Fill your cupboard up with other steel-incarcerated delights such as pineapple, peaches, mushy peas (yes really!), kidney beans and any vegetable-based soup and you’ve got a handy store of fruit and veg portions ready to dip into at any time — glorious!
   Approximate cost: 12p per portion (tomatoes)

6. Frozen’s Fine — another way of making sure you have fruit and veg portions at your finger tips is to stock up your freezer. Grab two handful of frozen peas (then put them in a bowl quick as they’ll stick to your skin) and there’s a veg portion sorted. Along with peas, I also like frozen baby broad beans — be a daredevil and stick a handful of each per person; microwave for a few minutes and you’re golden.
Approximate cost: 6p to 22p per portion (frozen peas - supermarket own brands being cheapest)

7. A Fruity Flourish — ever fancied a fruity power -bowl lunch to set you up for the afternoon’s efforts? My first experience of this was in America when we visited a fast food outlet that serves only healthy power-bowl options. As well as being highly nutritious, this can knock down three or four of your ten-a-day and it’s easy to make and tasty too. Peel and slice 1/2–1 banana into a cereal bowl; cut a 1cm slice across a melon, cut off the skin and cube it in; pop in a ring of pineapple and a few peach slices from a tin then top of with a couple of tablespoons of granola and one of yoghurt — job done.
Approximate cost: 7p per half banana, 8p per portion (melon)

8. Frozen Fruit Too — a cheaper alternative to fresh fruit. Frozen fruit, while not being as good in texture and taste is a good, cheaper and convenient (it doesn’t go off) substitute for fresh. Frozen mango is nice and easy; blackberries keep their texture well in the freezer and I’ve discovered Tesco’s perfectly imperfect to be a good mix of berries and, once defrosted and bunged into a power-bowl, not hugely imperfect, after all.
Approximate cost: £2.49 for a 1kg bag of perfectly imperfect frozen fruit — 20p per portion — way cheaper than fresh!

9. Perfectly Imperfect — as mentioned above, this range includes potatoes, carrots and parsnips. Not very imperfect at all and very reasonably priced. Peel and slice a couple of parsnips and a few carrots and you’ll have enough to feed two — roasted, steamed or microwaved , they’ll accompany your meat, fish or alternative. Glaze them in butter or olive oil and sprinkle with herbs and seasoning to raise them above their sometimes mundane reputations.
Approximate cost: 3p per portion (carrots)

10. Time for a dip — some of the nicest dips going are made of pulses or veg and these can help build up your ten-a-day but remember each portion must weigh in at 80g — a hefty amount of dip by anyone’s standards. However, scoop out a quarter of a tub of hummus, tzatziki and guacamole onto a plate and you’ve got about 50g; once you cut off a length of about 8cm of cucumber and cut it into batons for dipping, you’ll be hitting your first portion. A few olives, carrot sticks, baby tomatoes, apple slices and chunks of avocado dipped and eaten and you’ve got two portions under your belt and a substantial starter, accompaniment to a main meal, light lunch or snack depending on your appetite. You’re welcome!
Approximate cost: 20p per half-portion hummus; 12p per quarter cucumber.